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A Kamloops lawyer has been awarded $3.2 million after she was rear-ended in a collision four years ago.

The car crash on the Trans-Canada Highway outside Golden left the aspiring young law student suffering from chronic migraines which still occur three to four times a week.

According to an Aug. 8, B.C. Supreme Court decision, Casey Lee Helgason was studying law at Thompson Rivers University in 2018 when the accident occurred.

The decision said Helgason was rear-ended and her car pushed into the ditch. The decision didn't say how fast the car that hit Helgason was travelling but the speed limit on the highway is roughly 90 km/h. She had her car towed to the cabin where she was staying for the weekend and she didn't go to the hospital immediately.

However, she started to notice numbness and tingling in her right arm, pain in her neck and shoulders and "pretty intolerable" headaches.

When back in Kamloops a few days later, she went to the hospital and was later diagnosed with a concussion and post-concussion syndrome.

As the driver that rear-ended Helgason admitted liability  – a third vehicle was found not liable – the recent court case focused on the lawyer's loss of earnings both past and future.

The case highlights that higher earners will receive higher payouts if they win in many ICBC claims based on their projected future earnings.

Lawyers for both sides argued in a three-week trial about how much money Helgason would have made in her lifetime if she didn't suffer cognitively from the car crash.

Multiple expert witnesses were called during the trial including physiatrists and neurologists who gave their opinion on how the crash had affected Helgason.

However, the expert neurologists disagree with each other in their testimony with one stating that Helgason was born with a predisposition to developing migraine headaches.

Another neurologist disagreed saying she had post-traumatic brain injury syndrome.

The decision said Helgason was always a straight-A student who had worked at Kamloops law firm Fulton and Company while doing her undergrad. She did her articling with the company and after completing law school became an associate lawyer with them.

However, in the summer of 2021, she reduced her hours to 60 per cent because she suffers from daily headaches and is in considerable pain in her neck and shoulders.

READ MORE: Housing starts up this year in Okanagan but down in Kamloops

In arguing for compensation, Helgason said that she was on track to become a partner in the law firm and make $400,000 per year – a significant increase from the $120,000 maximum salary an associate lawyer makes.

However, as she can not work more than 60 per cent of the time this had greatly diminished her career aspirations.

"There is no doubt that her ongoing problems have impacted her work and her life generally. She is likely to continue to experience pain for the foreseeable future," Justice Ronald Skolrood said. "That said, the evidence suggested that she has continued with many of her recreational activities, although at a reduced level. Of some note as well is the fact that after the accident, Ms. Helgason successfully completed law school and articles and was kept on as an associate lawyer."

Helgason argues she would have become a partner and calculating her salary until the age of 70 would earn $9,934,077.

The defence disagreed, arguing that was no guarantee she would become a partner and that statistically there was only a 50 per cent chance that law grads stay in private practice.

The Justice agreed.

"While there is no doubt that she is both driven and intelligent, and is highly thought of by her colleagues at Fulton, it is simply too early in her career to be able to make that assertion," Justice Skolrood said in the decision. "Further, the statistical evidence and, more importantly, Fulton’s own history suggest that well under 50 per cent of first-year associates who stay on ultimately make partner."

The defendants also argued that Helgason had finished law school and done her articling after the crash and that there wasn't enough proof she could only work 60 per cent of the time.

"Assessing the impact of that impairment on her capacity to earn income is obviously challenging," the Justice said. "In my view, if Ms. Helgason does shift to a less demanding legal role and achieves improvement in both her physical and cognitive/psychological symptoms, her ongoing disability will be reduced, although not eliminated entirely."

Ultimately, Justice Skolrood decided Helgason would have earned $3 million over the course of her career.

Combined with other damages Helgason was awarded $3,217,720.

READ MORE: Kelowna lawyer that misappropriated $100,000 suspended

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