RMC Western Canada Insurance Law Seminar 

Risk Management Counsel of Canada (RMC) invites you to join us for an insurance law seminar featuring speakers from Lindsay LLP in Vancouver, SVR Lawyers and CBM Lawyers from Alberta and McKercher LLP from Saskatchewan. 

We will also have a panel discussion on cannabis featuring Mark Milner from ICBC's Road Safety Department and Dr. Sidney Katz from UBC's Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Our panels will address on-going and emerging topics of interest to claims adjusters, examiners and brokers at every level, including: 

1. Panel Discussion on Cannabis 
2. Loss of Capacity & Structured Settlements
3. Bylaw Coverage and Building Code Deficiencies
4. Tales from the Trenches - Tips and Traps when dealing with Self-Represented litigants

Register Now! 

 

Agenda 

Panel Discussion on Cannabis 
This panel will present pharmacological basics of cannabis, legalization of recreational cannabis and implications on road safety, and medical cannabis in personal injury actions in B.C. 

Panel

• Dr. Sidney Katz, C.M., Ph.D. 
• Mark Milner, ICBC Road Safety Department
• Tiffany Tsang, Lindsay LLP (Vancouver)  

Tales from the Trenches - 
Tips and Traps when dealing with Self-Represented litigants 

Across the country, insurers and defence counsel are facing an increase in claims from self-represented litigants. These cases face a number of different hurdles and need to be handled carefully and satisfy the principles recently endorsed by the Supreme Court of Canada in Pintea v. Johns.  In this session, our panel will discuss:

1. The rights of self-represented litigants and the requirement of insurers and defence counsel as set out in the Canadian Judicial Council’s Statement of Principles on Self-represented Litigants and Accused Persons
2. Strategies for insurers when dealing with a claim from a self-represented litigant

Panel

• Laura Bracco-Callaghan, SVR Lawyers (Calgary)
• Nicholas Cann, McKercher LLP (Regina)
• Nikta Shirazian, Lindsay LLP (Vancouver)
• Kaitlin Vinet, CBM Lawyers (Edmonton)

Loss of Capacity & Structured Settlements 

Loss of capacity claims are easily the most challenging aspect of any quantum assessment. The claims are fraught with challenges and often require a fair amount of crystal ball gazing. In this session, the panel will discuss: 

1. How our Courts view the claims and the evidence required to defend against them; and 
2. How structured settlements work and how to use them as a tool to effect a lower settlement.

Panel

• Debra Woodske, CBM Lawyers (Edmonton)
• Vanessa Gauthier, Lindsay LLP (Vancouver)
• Dean Stanley, McKercher LLP (Saskatoon)

Bylaw Coverage and Building Code Deficiencies

Kamara Willett of McKercher LLP’s Regina office will present on recent Court of Appeal decisions on the law of contingent liability arising from bylaw coverage. In particular, Ms. Willett’s presentation will explain the nuances of coverage for building code deficiencies discovered after an insured property suffers fire or water damage, and the limitations on such coverage.