Toronto lawyers focusing on plaintiff-side personal injury and insurance litigation

Rene A. Clonfero – Case Summaries

Wright v. Wasilewski ­ serious personal injury claim

In January of 1996 April Wright was seriously injured in a multiple vehicle collision on Highway 401 in Mississauga. April Wright was an American citizen residing in the State of Indiana. In order to get the best evidence of the impairments and disabilities April suffered introduced at trial April needed to have all of those persons who observed the impairments and disabilities April suffered from travel all the way from Indiana and Illinois at April's expense. This type of witness is called "lay witness". Lay witnesses are instrumental to the Court's assessment of how much compensation an insurer should pay to an injured person. In its decision the Court wrote that "the evidence of these witnesses would be helpful to the court in assessing damages."

In one of the first cases argued for the new technology of videoconferencing Rene's advocacy persuaded the Court to allow the evidence of 20 American witnesses residing in Indiana and Illinois at trial by videoconferencing.

Shortly after this decision the insurer agreed to settle April's case out of court for the amount of compensation April requested.

To v. Toronto Board of Education ­ Wrongful Death ­ Family Law Act claim

The parents and younger sister of Binh To claimed for the loss of Binh To's care, guidance, companionship and support primarily against the teacher of Binh To's gym class as well as the Toronto Board of Education.

In this case René was associate counsel at trial for the parents and younger sister of 14 year old Binh To who died during gym class at Harbord Collegiate in Toronto in 1994. Following a five week trial the jury found that the School Board and gym teacher were negligent in failing to adequately supervise the gym students and for failing to maintain in safe condition the European handball net which crushed young Binh To's head.

The jury awarded $100,000.00 in compensation to each of the parents of Binh To and $50,000.00 to his younger sister. These amounts were reduced by 25% based on the jury's finding that Binh To contributed to his own fatal injury by swinging on the upper bar of the handball net against the warning of his gym teacher.

On appeal the Court of Appeal upheld the $100,000.00 to each parent but reduced the amount of compensation to his sister to $25,000.00

Paskie v Canadian Amateur Boxing Association ­ the right to a trial by jury ­ boxing injury

In Ontario every party to a civil action has the substantive legal right to have their case decided by a jury, with few exceptions. A jury of six adults drawn from every walk of life in the community is the foundation of the civil justice system. A jury of six peers from the community can fairly judge a case. But insurers often do not want juries to hear a case.

In this case René represented Ron Paskie by his litigation guardian. Ron Paskie suffered permanent and irreversible brain damage and blindness in a Commonwealth Box-off in New Brunswick in 1989. Ron Paskie was one of Canada's finest boxers and an Olympic medal contender until he suffered these serious injuries.

René's advocacy persuaded the Court of first instance to grant the plaintiff's motion to permit this case to be tried by a jury, against aggressive argument by the defendants. The defendants appealed not once but twice in their efforts to avoid a trial by jury. The initial decision was upheld on appeal to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice as well as to the Divisional Court of Ontario. This decision has been cited in numerous decisions relating to juries.

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