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 […]
January 27, 2020
Sometimes plaintiffs will only agree to attend defence medical exams if they do not have to sign anything or complete any forms. In Coll v. Robertson, 2020 ONSC 383, Justice Grace held that this is improper. His Honour said that, when plaintiffs attend defence medical exams, they must complete questionnaires and sign consents if requested […]
December 19, 2019
In Galea v. Best Water Limited, 2019 ONSC 7213, the defendant requested production of certain “foundational information” of the plaintiff’s expert, including information on the type of testing performed, raw data, and photographs. The requirement to produce “foundational information” is mandated by rule 53.03(2.1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure. This rule deals with expert […]
August 20, 2019
Brian Sunohara has written an article called “Counsel’s Role in Preventing Humiliated Experts“. Brian discusses a recent court decision involving an expert who was testifying for the first time. The trial judge found the expert to be biased and unfamiliar with his role as an expert witness. Justice Tzimas emphasized that counsel must ensure an […]
