Our client, an 86 year old woman, was driving on a two lane highway near Barrie, Ontario.  She was in a lineup behind a truck. Her vehicle drifted into the oncoming lane. The Plaintiff was approaching from the opposite direction, speeding.  The two collided. A.J.’s client died at the scene of heart failure. The plaintiff suffered multiple fractures of the calcaneous. She underwent multiple surgeries and all of the medical evidence confirmed that she will have to have a fusion in the future.  She also suffered nerve and tendon damage. The Plaintiff claimed that A.J.’s client caused the accident because she was trying to pass the truck in front of her.  We argued that it was more likely that she suffered an unforeseeable, incapacitating coronary event, causing her to lose control of her vehicle. After 3 ½ weeks, the jury deliberated for two days and returned a verdict finding that the Plaintiff was indeed seriously injured, but that there was no negligence on the part of our client. Her action was therefore dismissed.

A.J. Wachna Wins Summary Judgment Motion and Holds Daycare Responsible Summary judgment blocked! The case involves a commercial building with a common parking lot and multiple commercial tenants.  One of the tenants is a daycare centre. The Plaintiff dropped off her infant child at the daycare centre.  As she was returning to her car, she slipped and fell and suffered an injury.  She sued the property owner, the daycare centre, and our client, the winter maintenance contractor. The daycare filed a motion for summary judgment, seeking to be let out of the action.  They argued that they were not responsible for the parking lot because it was not part of their lease and the landlord had contracted to maintain it.  The daycare also argued that it owed no duty to the children or parents once they were off the rented daycare premises (i.e., in the parking lot). We argued that the daycare owed a duty to the children and parents, because it shared in the control and maintenance of the parking lot, at least in the area where the Plaintiff claims to have fallen. The court sided with us.  The court found that the daycare could not just walk away from liability  because—even if the parking lot was not part of the daycare’s lease—there were too many indications that the daycare was still exercising control, and thus was an “occupier” and responsible for the safety of the parking lot.

A.J. Wachna represented an insurer being sued by its insured for failing to provide accident benefits. The insured presented evidence attempting to establish he was entitled to benefits, and that our client’s request for insurer’s examinations did not include the requisite “medical reasons”, and therefore he did not need to attend the examinations. A.J. was able to prove that his client’s request did include the requisite “medical reasons”, and that the insured’s failure to attend the examinations barred his action. The court preferred our evidence and dismissed the Plaintiff’s claim. Arbitration Win! A.J. Wachna Wins At Arbitration With A Shut Out.

  A.J. Wachna represented the insurer of a car driver.  The Claimant claimed he was riding his bicycle and our driver struck him.  A.J. disagreed. Initially, the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund responded to the Applicant’s claim for Accident Benefits.  A.J. received the file to handle the arbitration 2 months before the hearing. After a 2 day hearing, the Arbitrator sided with A.J.’s client: the Applicant failed to establish our driver struck him at all.  The Arbitration was accordingly dismissed, with expenses payable by the Applicant to our client.