Kalashnikoff v. Halat – Russian Immigrant Injured in Head on Collision
This was a claim that involved a man in his 60’s who spoke little English and had worked at manual jobs all his life. Mr. Kalashnikoff was referred to James by his brother who was also a client. Mr. Kalashnikoff was involved in a head-on collision with the defendant. It appeared that the defendant had strayed across the yellow line and into Mr. Kalashnikoff’s lane of travel when the accident happened. Unfortunately, ICBC denied liability even though the facts seemed to point clearly to the defendant being at fault. Mr. Kalashnikoff was not able to express how this accident had really impacted his life due to his limited English. James was able to bring out his story through his two adult daughters as to the change the accident had brought about in him, and how he was not the same man he used to be. ICBC offered very little to try and resolve this matter as they did not view this claim to be significant at all. James was able to bring this matter successfully to trial and obtain an award of $130,000.00. This was far greater than what ICBC was prepared to settle the matter for. This decision illustrated how our court system can be used to help accident victims who are immigrants and may feel that they do not understand our system of laws and even fully understand our language. James was pleased to be able to help such a vulnerable person in our society.
