November 25, 2021
By Suganiya Sivabalan In its recent decision in St. Marthe v. O’Connor, 2021 ONCA 790, the Ontario Court of Appeal provided guidance on the boundaries of appropriate expert evidence at trial, particularly evidence from participant experts. Background The plaintiff in this action was injured in a motor vehicle accident in November of 2011, in which […]
September 01, 2021
By Meryl Rodrigues The recent Superior Court motion decision in Mitsis v. Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Community of London[i] speaks to the importance of defence counsel properly considering strategy when arranging a medical examination of a plaintiff – both with respect to timing of such an examination and to the choice of expert. In Mitsis, […]
May 04, 2021
The Court of Appeal recently overturned a dismissal of a medical malpractice action due to improper expert evidence. In Parliament v. Conley, 2021 ONCA 261, a baby was diagnosed with hydrocephalus (an accumulation of fluid within the brain) when he was around four month old. He is now 21 years old and has cognitive and physical […]
March 09, 2021
By Brian Sunohara A recent court decision shows the importance of complying with timelines to serve expert reports. Justice Daley said that counsel are “sorely mistaken” if they think a breach of the Rules of Civil Procedure has no consequences. The decision involves a motion to adjourn a trial. Andrew Yolles of Rogers Partners LLP was […]
December 23, 2020
In D’Eon v. Hosseini, 2020 ONSC 7500, the court ordered the plaintiff’s lawyer to not communicate with medical experts retained by the defendants’ lawyer. The defendants’ lawyer had scheduled the plaintiff to attend a neuropsychology assessment. Prior to attending the assessment, the plaintiff’s lawyer wrote a lengthy letter to the expert setting out several conditions and […]
April 28, 2020
In Sit v. Trillium Health Centre, 2020 ONSC 2458, Justice Trimble addressed several issues related to expert evidence at trials. Expert Report as an Aide Memoire Justice Trimble confirmed that, unless a medical report is tendered as a medical expert’s evidence-in-chief in place of oral testimony, the report has no evidentiary value. The only admissible evidence […]
