Juries | Davidson Cahill Morrison LLP

The High Cost of Unreasonable Conduct: Why a “Hardball” Litigation Strategy is a Costly Gamble

Peter Reinitzer September 9, 2025

Offer nothing, force the plaintiff to finance a trial, and hope they fold: it is a familiar defence gamble, and a growing line of Ontario cases shows how badly it can go. In Barry v Anantharajah, 2025 ONCA 603, a defendant who never made a monetary offer faced a costs award reported to dwarf the plaintiff’s modest $16,160 recovery. The Court of Appeal’s message is plain: a reasonable offer, even a small one, is a vital tool for managing litigation risk.

Ontario Court of Appeal Upholds $1.5 Million Jury Award in TTC Bus Collision Case

Margaret Klassen August 18, 2025

A pickup truck stopped in traffic, a rear-end collision with a TTC bus, and a jury award topping $1.5 million for chronic pain and lost earning capacity. On appeal, the defendants attacked the trial judge’s jury charge on causation, apportionment, and past income loss. In Meldazy v Nassar, 2025 ONCA 590, the Court of Appeal found no error and dismissed the appeal, a reminder that an appeal is not a second trial.

Court of Appeal Upholds Nearly $1 Million in Costs Following Jury Trial in Pye v Di Trapani

Margaret Klassen May 13, 2025

An 18-day jury trial, a damages award just over $1 million, and a costs award of nearly the same amount: the defendants said the trial judge had failed to test the plaintiff’s costs for reasonableness and proportionality. In Pye v Di Trapani, 2025 ONCA 355, the Court of Appeal disagreed, reaffirming the broad discretion trial judges hold over costs and the powerful role a Rule 49 offer plays in the result.

Taking Advantage of Simplified Procedure in MVA Concussion Claims

Hudson Chalmers March 9, 2024

For many concussion victims, issuing a motor vehicle claim under the Simplified Procedure of Rule 76 offers real advantages. This article explains how the 2019 changes removed jury trials, capped adverse costs, and raised the damages limit, and why that framework often suits the invisible injuries that make concussion cases so hard to prove.

The Importance of Keeping Civil Juries in Ontario

Joel Cormier February 25, 2024

Calls to abolish Ontario’s civil juries resurface from time to time, usually on the argument that they are slow, costly, or biased. This article makes the case for keeping them, explaining how juries check judicial bias, bring public participation and diversity to the justice system, and why the common arguments against them do not hold up.