Expert Evidence

Expert evidence is the engine of medical malpractice litigation. Because judges and juries are not expected to know what a reasonable physician, nurse, or other regulated health professional would have done in a given clinical situation, qualified experts are needed to define the standard of care, explain the mechanism of injury, and address causation. In most Ontario medical malpractice trials, expert evidence is the difference between success and failure.

Expert reports and testimony in the Ontario Superior Court are governed by Rule 53.03 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, which sets out service deadlines, content requirements, and the expert’s duty to the court. The admissibility framework was refined by the Supreme Court of Canada in White Burgess Langille Inman v Abbott and Haliburton Co, 2015 SCC 23, [2015] 2 SCR 182, which clarified the role of expert independence and impartiality at the threshold stage.

Posts tagged Expert Evidence analyze how Ontario courts have ruled on the qualifications of medical experts, the scope of permissible opinion, challenges to admissibility, and the weight given to competing expert opinions at trial.