Coquitlam Lawyer: $1 Million+ Award

In Bhatti v. Jones, 2020 BCSC 1935, Jackie Small’s and Vic S. Maan’s low-income earning client suffered from, inter alia, an objective injury (disc extrusion). ICBC argued that the injury was an aggravation of a pre-existing disc protrusion and therefore a crumbling skull case. The defendant’s expert was discredited on cross-examination. At trial, defence abandoned their theory of the case, arguing a failure to mitigate and attacking our client’s credibility. Justice Myers rejected ICBC’s arguments and awarded the injured claimant (plaintiff) $1,012,296 including $520,000 for future loss of earnings (based on the earnings approach), $225,000 for loss of housekeeping capacity - one of the largest awards for housekeeping in BC history - and $190,000 for non-pecuniary damages.