Simon's Legal Resources

Torts - Negligence - Evidence

. Donna Pelrine, by her Estate Trustee James Pelrine et al. v. Chung et al.

In Donna Pelrine, by her Estate Trustee James Pelrine et al. v. Chung et al. (Div Ct, 2026) the Divisional Court allowed an appeal of a partially dismissed motion which requested "leave to file three late served reports pursuant to rule 53.08 [SS: 'Evidence Admissible only with Leave'] of the Rules of Civil Procedure".

The court considers the sometimes expert-evidence intensive nature of negligence law, here medical malpractice:

[64] As the Court of Appeal states in Liu v. Wong, 2016 ONCA 366, at para. 14:

Medical malpractice cases are complex – even where they may appear simple to the eye of a layperson – and judges and juries lack the expertise necessary to assess difficult questions such as causation, standard of care, and breach of the standard of care, without the assistance of expert reports. For that reason, this court and others have stated that aside from the “clearest of cases” the absence of [] expert evidence in support of the plaintiff’s medical malpractice claim is fatal: see Larman v. Mount Sinai Hospital, 2014 ONCA 923.