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We chase the police file while it is still being built. Charge information, breath readings, roadside notes, and the officer's grounds all sit in one place, and a civil claim built without them starts several steps behind.
Wagners holds a Lexpert Top 10 ranking, and our Halifax office holds 4.9 stars across 506 Google reviews. Early steps in a file like yours include:
Nothing is billed while that happens, and nothing at all unless we recover for you. Our share is agreed in writing before you sign.
Running a civil claim beside a prosecution takes a particular kind of timing, and the criminal calendar will not wait while you decide. Call us as soon as charges are laid, or before, and we will start on the file while the record is still being made.
No, and this is where most people are misinformed. A criminal court must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt.
At the same time, a civil claim only asks whether impairment more likely than not caused your injuries. A driver acquitted, or never charged at all, can still be liable to you.
Section 320.14 of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46 makes it an offence to operate a conveyance while impaired to any degree by alcohol or a drug, or to be over 80 milligrams in 100 millilitres of blood within two hours of driving.
Specifically, "to any degree" matters civilly. A reading under the limit does not mean the driver was fit to drive, and it does not close your claim.
Where a conviction does follow, it carries real weight in the civil file. Courts here treat a criminal finding as strong evidence of the conduct behind it, which shortens the argument about what happened and moves the file toward the question of what the injuries are worth.
The Crown's disclosure is also where the useful material sits:
Our drunk or impaired driving lawyer in Halifax asks for it early rather than rebuilding the night from scratch.
If you own a business that serves alcohol or host an event and you will be serving alcohol, it’s important to understand what the law requires and protect yourself. Liquor liability insurance was designed to offer this protection against losses or damages that occur as a result of alcohol-related accidents. This coverage is a requirement for businesses that manufacture, sell, serve, or facilitate the use or purchase of alcohol.
The laws on liquor liability vary from province to province, which may create some confusion about the need to acquire this coverage. We’ll go over some basics to shed more light on this subject.
These are laws that are enacted at the province level and apply to any business that serves or sells alcohol to intoxicated persons who later cause injuries or property damage to others. Since these laws are enacted at the province level, it is important for policyholders who have establishments across multiple provinces to ensure they comply in all regions. If a visibly intoxicated person causes harm to themselves or others in a bar, liquor store, restaurant or even social club or a private event, the owner of the establishment will be held liable. This law allows third party victims of drunken behaviour in such establishments to sue the property owners or staff who sold the alcohol to the intoxicated person and possibly receive damages. The establishment may be sued for excessively serving the customer under “dram shop” laws.
This law also covers incidents where establishments are selling liquor to minors, selling without a license, or during after-hours. In Ontario and the rest of Canada, the maximum blood alcohol content (BAC) is 0.08. When a driver is caught above this BAC limit, he/she is deemed to have committed a criminal offence. Additionally, intoxicated drivers within 0.05 to 0.08 BAC can still be charged with a penalty for being within the warn range. Drunken drivers who exceed these limits will not only face criminal charges but may also be sued in a civil court for injuries sustained because of their drunk driving or reckless actions. The victims may not only sue the drunk driver but, in many cases, may also be able to sue the restaurant or bar that supplied them with alcohol.
For any business in a province with dram shop laws, it’s important to protect yourself with liquor liability insurance. This coverage protects businesses that serve, manufacture, or sell alcohol from being held liable when an intoxicated person who was served or sold alcohol in their establishment causes bodily injury or property damage to a third party. This coverage is an important requirement for bars, restaurants, convenience stores, wineries, and breweries that sell or serve alcohol regardless of their size. All these businesses are exposed to liquor liability and are sometimes legally required to get this coverage before they are given a license or commercial lease.
The law simply holds businesspeople accountable for contributing to a person’s intoxication. A third-party victim may file a lawsuit against the impaired individual or the establishment that serves, sells, or manufactures the liquor. If successful, the injured party can receive damages from both the establishment and the intoxicated individual responsible for their injuries or property damage. However, proving fault of the establishment is often a difficult task. For instance, it may be impossible for the patron to know whether the individual was drinking on an empty stomach or has a low alcohol tolerance.
When a company hosts a social event where it serves alcohol to its employees, guests, customers, or prospects, the host liquor liability insurance coverage protects them from being held liable when an intoxicated person causes harm within their property. This form of coverage is often included as part of a general liability policy. It covers incidents such as guests in a social event who become intoxicated and cause property damage or bodily injury.
For instance, if an intoxicated guest causes a car accident on their way home, the injured person can sue the hosting company for providing alcohol to the intoxicated individual and allowing him/her to drive home. Since the company doesn’t manufacture or sell alcohol as part of their operations, having a host liquor liability coverage included in the general liability policy ensures that any medical bills or car repairs are covered by the insurer. The host liquor liability insurance can also cover lawyer’s fees and any other damages ordered by the court when a victim files a lawsuit against the policyholder.
Sometimes the place that served the drinks.
Section 61(1) of the Nova Scotia Liquor Licensing Regulations prohibits a licensee from selling or providing liquor to a person apparently under the influence, or to a person it is reasonable to believe will become intoxicated with any more.
Section 64A(2) goes further and requires a licensee to see that intoxicated patrons are safely removed from the premises.
Commercial hosts can therefore carry a share of responsibility that private hosts generally do not. The Supreme Court of Canada held in Childs v. Desormeaux that a private party host owes no general duty to people injured later by a guest.
Where the driver left the scene, the file runs closer to hit and run accidents and turns on your own policy instead. Parties we look at in these files:
Identifying every party early matters because some carry coverage the driver does not, and a licensee's records of that evening do not stay available forever.
Your own benefits are unaffected.
Every Nova Scotia auto policy carries Section B accident benefits under the Insurance Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 231, and they pay for treatment and a weekly income benefit no matter who caused the crash or what they had been drinking.
The at-fault side is where things shift. An impaired driver has usually breached the conditions of their own policy, so their insurer may decline to defend them while still answering to you as an innocent third party.
That distinction is why these files settle differently. An insurer that pays an innocent claimant after a coverage breach will usually look to recover that money from its own policyholder afterward, which is a conversation you are not part of.
Where nobody can be identified, or nobody was insured, uninsured motorist claims under your own coverage step in. Coverage limits vary between policies, so we read yours before assuming what is available.
You can still bring a claim, though expect the driver's insurer to raise the question.
Section 3 of the Contributory Negligence Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 95, lets a court divide fault between the people involved rather than assigning all of it one way.
In contrast to a complete bar, knowing a driver had been drinking usually reduces a share rather than ending a claim. Whether you actually knew, and how obvious the impairment was, become questions of fact rather than assumptions an insurer gets to make.
Passengers often hesitate because the driver is a friend or a relative. The claim answers to an insurance policy rather than to that person's savings, which is usually the reassurance that people need.
Provincial health coverage pays for your hospital treatment, so the claim addresses what impairment costs you beyond it:
Valuing the first three takes medical opinion and employment records, and we commission both.
Impaired driving claims often unfold at the same time as a criminal case, adding issues that do not arise after an ordinary collision. Clients commonly ask these questions when considering a claim.
Usually not. Your civil claim moves on a separate schedule, and delaying it can mean lost evidence or missed deadlines. Our Halifax drunk or impaired driving lawyers can pursue the claim while the criminal prosecution remains pending and coordinate any overlapping issues carefully.
Possibly, and that is separate from your claim. Crown prosecutors decide who they call, and we can prepare you for it without charging for the time.
Partly. Members of the public can request some records, but full disclosure normally reaches the parties to the prosecution, which is one reason to have us request it. Ask us before filing a request of your own, since the wrong route slows things down.
Treated the same way. Impairment by drugs, prescription or otherwise, supports a civil claim on the same footing as alcohol, and the criminal provision covers both.
Rarely on its own.
Section 3(2) of the Apology Act, S.N.S. 2008, c. 34 makes an apology inadmissible as evidence of fault or liability, and section 3(1)(c) says an apology does not void, impair, or otherwise affect insurance coverage.
Your claim turns on the police file rather than on anything said at the roadside.
Yes, and close relatives have claims of their own alongside the estate. That claim runs on a 12-month deadline rather than the usual two years, so tell us early. We handle those files at whatever pace the family needs.
You do not need to understand any of this before you ring Wagners. Tell us the date, the location, and whether charges were laid, and we will find the rest.
Reach us at (902) 425-7330 or 1-800-465-8794 to book a free consultation with our drunk or impaired driving lawyer in Halifax.
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