Legal Costs

Published on: March 12, 2020

How COVID-19 Corona Virus can make our legal system better!

Let me preface this article by stating that COVID-19 Corona Virus is very real; and very serious. For facts, consult your local physician, or reputable medical/government websites such as:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/index.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19.html

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus

https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/health-wellness-care/diseases-medications-vaccines/coronavirus/

The point of this edition of the Toronto Injury Blog Post is to put as positive a spin as we can on a very negative situation.

One of the biggest complaints from lawyers is regarding how slow, delayed and backlogged our Courts are. Our Courts are handing an enormous volume of cases, with inadequate resources and technology at their disposal.

Electronic filing of Court documents is NOT available for all documents, nor is it available at all levels of Court. In fact, electronic filing is not encouraged or promoted as aggressively as it should be by the Ministry of the Attorney General.

There is an entire industry which has been built on in-person filing and delivery of legal documents (process servers). I have nothing against process servers. They are currently essential to personal injury claims. In fact, with new privacy legislation they are more important than ever because they’re the only ones who have access to track down certain Defendants’ addresses if they aren’t detailed on police report.

But the reality is that with technology, process serving as we know it should be rendered obsolete. All legal documents should be filed electronically with the Court. But they aren’t. Not even close. Hot take. I know. But as lawyers we tend to lag behind and play in the past. COVID-19 is telling us that lawyers should be more flexible and change with the times.

Here’s how.

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Published on: December 5, 2018

Proposed Court Reforms Benefit Rich Insurers at the Expense of Average Litigants in Ontario

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

In a perfect world, the Courtroom presents a level playing field. There are rules which are meant to be followed. There is a neutral unbiased judge who acts as trier of fact; decides right from wrong; just from unjust.

When the rules of the Courtroom are tweaked, those tweaks have unintended (or sometimes secretly deeply calculated) consequences.

With this edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog, I would like to present to the general public what some tweaks in our Courtrooms can do to the Average Joe/Jane at trial.

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Published on: March 8, 2017

Legal Fees in Personal Injury Cases & The Solicitors Act Ontario

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Recently, the Ontario Divisional Court released their decision in Gilbert’s LLP v. David Dixon Inc., 2017 ONSC 1345. The Honourable Justice Nordheimer, speaking for the Court had some pointed commentary with respect to the Solicitors Act and its application in 2017. The Solicitors Act goes back to 1909 England. The language contained therein is antiquated, and hard to understand; even for the most astute personal injury lawyer or Judge.

The Solicitor’s Act governs how lawyers bill and collect legal fees. This decision is important as the story of lawyers’ fees, particularly in the context of personal injury claims, has been all over the news lately.

Here’s what the Honourable Justice Nordheimer had to say about the Solicitors Act:

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Published on: September 20, 2016

Ask a Personal Injury Lawyer: Rapid Fire Q&A with Brian Goldfinger

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Throughout the course of the year, the Toronto Personal Injury Lawyer Blog gets tonnes a questions from our loyal readership. We do our best to answer every question we can. Here are some of the best, and most commonly asked questions we have received. All of these questions have been answered by personal injury lawyer, Brian Goldfinger, directing lawyer of Goldfinger Injury Lawyers. We trust that this rapid fire Q&A session will answer some of your pressing questions when it comes to car accident, slip and fall, dog bite, motorcycle and long term disability claims/law.

Q: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR LAW FIRM CHARGE?

A: We don’t charge an upfront hourly rate. We take your case on a contingency fee basis. If our firm doesn’t recover any money for you in your case, that means that you don’t have to pay any legal fees.

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Published on: September 1, 2016

Legal Costs in the context of a Personal Injury Case in Ontario

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

When I was a young personal injury lawyer, a very senior partner at the law firm I worked at had a great figurine on his desk of an old British looking lawyer wearing a wig with a dignified look on his face. Embossed to the bottom of the figurine was the Statement “Sue the Bastards“. This figurine always brought a smile to my face.

People ask me all the time why I like being a personal injury lawyer. Aside from the common answers of genuinely liking helping real people (not large multi national corporations); working every day with injured accident victims who need the help the most; and making a meaningful difference in the lives of our clients; the reality is that I also love suing! As a matter of fact, all of the lawyers at my law firm get excited when we are about to issue a Statement of Claim. Perhaps it’s because the Statement of Claim is the first shot fired by David vs. the large Goliath on the receiving end of the claim. That Goliath is the large multi national insurance company with seemingly unlimited resources. The battle seems unfair from the get go if you take in to consideration the size of each parties’ war chest. But our lawyers have the skill and experience to make things work.

An article recently caught my eye. There was a tragic shooting which took place at a Cinema in Colorado around 4 years ago. Many people died in this senseless killing. Many were injured. There are no words to describe this horrific massacre.

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