A Vancouver woman who was just weeks away from being called to the B.C. Bar has been awarded nearly $6-million for a potentially successful legal career that ended before it began.
Michelle Danicek was 32 years old in April, 2001, when she was flattened by a colleague twice her size who fell on her during a dance floor accident at a Vancouver nightclub.
The incident followed an associate's dinner sponsored by the law firm where Ms. Danicek had just completed her articles and was considered a rising star with a unique ability to bring work to the company.
The accident left the petite, 50-kilogram distance runner and active single mom with severe headaches and a brain injury that made it difficult to concentrate.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge says $5-million of the award applies to loss of future earnings from what should have been a promising legal career.
Judge Stephen Kelleher also noted the lawsuit has taken years to resolve, but isn't over yet, because further hearings must decide who among the various defendants is liable for the multi-million-dollar award.