Week One: Introduction

Introduction to the class

• Welcome
• Our backgrounds
• Your backgrounds

• Interactive
  • We will call upon everyone to participate in class.  
  • We want to make it a practical class that gives you something more than a surface understanding of personal injury law.  In order for all of us to meet that goal, it is important that you all participate.  
  • We base 25% of your mark on participation.

• Overview of course materials, readings, and grading.

• Readings & class notes – all found on the KazLaw website under “UBC Law”, not all updated yet. 

• The focus of this course is to demonstrate how to successfully advocate for an injured plaintiff.  The skills you learn in the course are, however, broadly applicable to any case where you are advocating for your client.

• PI has become increasing prevalent for anyone who has a litigation practice. 

• Traditionally, PI was practiced primarily at small firms that either specialized in personal injury or had this as a component of their general practice.  More recently, there is a trend where bigger firms have also developed practices.

• The statistics for personal injury in Canada are daunting: most individuals will suffer a significant personal injury during their lifetime, injury/trauma is the leading cause of death for children and young adults, and injury is the dominant cause of disability for Canadians.

• The statistics for personal injury litigation in the British Columbia Supreme Court are equally significant: personal injury claims accounts for nearly 25% of all civil pleadings filed and 20% of all trials.

• Given these statistics you can appreciate that PI litigation is essential for anyone considering a litigation practice.