Changes to Rules of Civil Procedure — pretrial conferences and expert evidence

By Victoria Edwards ( April 19, 2022, 2:06 PM EDT) -- Expert evidence is essential to any personal injury action. This is especially true in the context of motor vehicle litigation, where the plaintiff must pass the “threshold” legal test if they are to recover non-pecuniary damages. Under O. Reg. 461/96, the plaintiff must adduce evidence that they have suffered permanent serious impairment of an important physical, mental or psychological function for the purposes of the threshold test, and they must do so through one or more physicians. It is similarly difficult to imagine a medical malpractice or other suit based on medical injuries going far without the use of medical experts to comment on the injuries, prognosis, causation and future care needs....