Sexual Abuse and the Canadian Civil Justice System + E-Book

Janis McAfee has practised exclusively in the area of insurance defence work for more than 30 years, focusing on complex personal injury claims and the defence of civil sexual assault claims for various religious organizations, schools and non- profits. She frequently contributes to insurance publications and presents on topics to members of the insurance industry. In addition to articles for the firm’s insurance newsletter, the International Law Review, and the Canadian Independent Adjuster, Ms. McAfee has presented and authored articles for the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia’s various conferences, including the Sexual Violence Conference (Civil), and addressed the Lloyd’s Market Association. Ms. McAfee has been peer-reviewed and recognized by Lexpert as one of Canada’s Leading Practitioners in the area of commercial insurance litigation, and by Best Lawyers in Canada in personal injury litigation and the field of insurance law.

Sandra Kovacs is a leading plaintiffs’ personal injury trial lawyer in British Columbia and an adjunct professor teaching Law 433C: Special Topics in Tort Law (Personal Injury) at UBC Allard School of Law. Between 2005 and 2016 she worked in defence of civil tort actions, pivoting in 2016 to work exclusively for plaintiffs in complex injury claims, now with an almost exclusive focus on civil sexual violence. She is the co-founder of CLEBC’s recurring Sexual Violence (Civil) Conference. Ms. Kovacs achieved a record judge-made punitive damages award against a Roman Catholic Diocese in a historical abuse claim, the first involving an adult survivor in Canada, in Anderson v. Molon, [2020] B.C.J. No. 1327, 2020 BCSC 1247 (B.C.S.C.), and the largest compensatory damages judgment for a childhood sexual abuse survivor in N. (H.) v. School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria), [2024] B.C.J. No. 133, 2024 BCSC 128 (B.C.S.C.), aff’d [2025] BCCA 144, a case the Supreme Court of Canada will soon hear on the issue of institutional vicarious liability for child sexual abuse and grooming, revisiting the seminal decisions of Bazley v. Curry and Jacobi v. Griffıths.