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The lawyers said in a letter to the NDP minister released Wednesday that after that decree, the Crown corporation “pursued a hostile, unreasonably low settlement offer strategy with injured claimants causing a massive increase in legal and court costs, unnecessary trials, and unprecedented delays and adjournments.”

A record 140 adjournments occurred last year, owing mainly to the ICBC settlement strategy compounded by a shortage of judicial appointments, Trial Lawyers Association president John Rice added.

The predictable outcry over the unilateral changes was swift.

Yet, while the courts, lawyers and the rest of the province argued about the controversial amendments, it was all seemingly sleight of hand.

Behind the scenes, according to Shaw, Eby was engaged in an entirely different process — rolling down the road to no-fault with nary a whisper.

“Last March,” Shaw reported, “Eby heard the CEOs of the public auto insurers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were visiting B.C. for an industry event. He asked to meet them.”

Photo by Gerry Kahrmann / PNG

While lawyers were banging their head against a wall trying to discuss options to fix ICBC and the legal system, Eby was focused on no-fault.

By mid-year, the frustrated association, representing most of the personal injury bar, launched a court challenge.

At the same time, the lawyers complained loudly that ICBC’s litigation strategy was driving up legal costs and pushing more cases to trial — exacerbating the problem of crowded dockets and leaving claimants waiting months or years to collect.