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Pre-Trial is one of the last steps in a personal injury case before it actually goes to trial.

The Pre-Trial, aside from the actual trial itself, is the most important step of your case which requires judicial intervention. That means that the Court is actively involved in this part of your case, unlike other parts of your case.

An examination for discovery does NOT require Judge. A mediation does NOT require a Judge. An independent medical-legal examination does NOT require a Judge.

But a Pre-Trial requires a Judge. Without a Judge, a Pre-Trial can’t happen. (save in Toronto/Ottawa and Windsor where Masters can conduct Pre-Trials in Simplified Procedure cases).

So, you might be wondering. What exactly is a Pre-Trial?
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You know which stories made HUGE headlines in 2013 and which continue the trend in 2014?

Municipal Politics!

In Peterborough, Mayor Daryl Bennett was suspended from the Peterborough Lakefield Police Services Board for conduct unbecoming a Board Member. He was accused of all sorts of shenanigans involving hiring and the funding for the police. He was suspended even before he had a hearing, which I found rather odd.

In London, Mayor Joe Fontana was charged with FRAUD by the RCMP! This had to do with allegedly using City funds for his son’s wedding. Yikes! In addition, a number of municipal Councillors held an alleged covert backdoor meeting at a bar called Billy T’s which cost City of London tax payers around $100,000 in legal fees.

And who can forget Toronto Mayor Rob Ford who was all over the news with his crack scandal, Sandro Lissi trial, drug tape, and now the Steak Queen Patois drunken rant. Amazing stuff!

To say that it wasn’t a good year for local mayors is an under statement. Or, perhaps it was a great year for them?!?

When you think of a mayor, you want to think that person is honest, intelligent, hard working and credible. You want to think that they’re in municipal politics for all the right reasons: to help people and help the city/municipality with its daily affairs. Above all, you want that person to be trustworthy.
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In around August 2013, the personal injury bar, along with the sports world was shocked that the NFL and its former players had reached a $765 million dollar settlement in a concussions class action law suit brought against the league.

The former players argued that the NFL knew or ought to have known of the dangers of concussion and hid these dangers from their players; often not providing them proper treatment and expecting them to play through the brain injury. The dangerous playing conditions and expectations put on these players led to significant long term cognitive and psychological damages. Just do a Google search for Junior Seau or Jovan Belcher and you’ll see what I mean.

Seems like a very plausible argument on the part of the players. But, then again, I’m a plaintiff personal injury lawyer so I tend to side on the part of the little guy accident victim.
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The calls and queries continue to roll in following the ice storm. The anger and frustration around the GTA has been quite remarkable. People are upset for a variety of reasons: lack of power; lack of information; duplication of information; useless information; lack of timely repairs; a certain deputy mayor going to Florida and the list goes on.

A colleague of mine forwarded me his thoughts on the ice storm. His thoughts were spot on, and thought provoking. He’s allowed me to share these thoughts with you. I’m sure that you’ll find them interesting. Here you go:
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Without any consultation, communication, notice or debate, your very own Ontario Government has changed how the laws surrounding no fault accident benefits work yet again! No formal announcment was made. Simply a release of the legislation.

In a normal democracy, when laws or amendments to laws are passed, they are first debated, studied, and put to a panel of experts and to the public to get their feedback. The voting public is put on notice of the proposed law or changes and a debate/discussion ensues. It’s all nice and out in the open for people to debate and to better understand.

Things aren’t supposed to be slipped under the carpet without you knowing. Heck: even the Harper Conservatives abide by these simple principals. It’s just good public relations.

But NOT your Ontario Government. Particularly when it comes to car insurance. Ontario’s government (no matter who’s in power) always likes to sneak things in when we don’t expect it. No vote. No debate. No discussion. Just put it in there just like how it’s was done in Communist Russia, and in today’s China and North Korea.

Today, the Ontario Government RELEASED Ontario Regulation 347/13. It comes in to force on February 1, 2014 and will be printied in the January 2014 Ontario Gazette. That means that only personal injury lawyers and people in the insurance industry know about the changes right now. It will become more common knowledge come the new year after it’s published in the Ontario Gazette.

You’ve never head of the Ontario Gazette? Don’t worry about it. Neither had I until I went to law school. I suppose it’s an elitist publiciation which nobody except lawyers, law students and policiticans read. So, there’s a very good chance that if you don’t read this Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post, you won’t know or understand how car accident law has changed yet again.

Why should you care about O. Reg 347/13? Read on and find out!
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When I was young, there wasn’t such a thing as a cool pair of winter boots. There certainly wasn’t such a thing as a must have winter jacket. Wait a minute. There was such thing. First it was the “SunIce” ski jacket which was very popular. Then, it became the black team apparel “Starter” jackets with hoods branding such teams as the Chicago Bulls or the LA Raiders; which had their logo on the breast and across the back of the coat. Am I dating myself? Perhaps.

But, for the purpose of this Toronto Injury Blog post, dating myself doesn’t matter.

Winter apparel has always been an industry in and of itself. I just think that it’s blown up in the past few years. Yesterday, Canada’s biggest name in winter gear, Canada Goose sold a majority stake in their family owned/operated company to US Venture Capitalists, Bain Capital. The same Bain Capital that Mitt Romney ran. Details of how much money the deal was for have yet to be disclosed, but from what I understand, the deal is worth somewhere in the 9 figures. If the people at Bain are willing to invest over $100 million in to a winter apparel company, then that should tell you something about Canada Goose’s product and brand.

But, Brian, how on earth does this relate to personal injury law?
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When I show clients their files, often; they are astounded by the amount of paper involved in handling their case.

Even in a “paperless system“, we still print medical records, medical reports, pleadings etc. for mediation memos, briefs and Affidavits of Documents. At the end of the day, personal injury law involves a LOT of paper.

One of the most important pieces of paper which accident victims will likely sign in the course of their case is something called a “Release“. If you’re signing a Release, that means that like 99% of civil cases out there; that your case has settled outside of Court. Congrats.

A lot of our clients get worried when they’re asked by an insurer to sign a Release. They think that they’re signing their lives away by signing it. That should not be the case. Your lawyer should explain to you exactly what you’re signing, and why you’re signing it.
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Yes. I know. Cute Game of Thrones reference. Which, by the way, season # 4 is scheduled to begin in early 2014 and…spoiler alert…the first episode will feature the death of an important character. Who you ask? You’ll have to wait and see.

In any event, the temperature is dropping across Ontario. I visited the Peterborough Regional Health Sciences Centre earlier this week and it was COLD. I was in Mississauga Friday for a discovery and it was COLD. I was in London this week and it was COLD. A client of mine from the Kitchener-Waterloo area told me that it had snowed 10cm overnight. I’m told that it was snowing in Barrie and in parts of Northern Ontario. Winter’s coming to the Province, if it’s not already here.

So, before the streets and sidewalks get too messy to drive on, here’s a friendly reminder of what you should do in order to be safe this winter on our roads.
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Happy Halloween from Goldfinger Injury Lawyers! Halloween’s a fun Hallmark Holiday which everyone can enjoy. I remember getting really excited to go out trick or treating and returning home with bags full of candy.

But, in my years of work, I’ve seen some nasty accidents which occurred on Halloween night. Trip and falls, pedestrian/car collisions, drunk driving accidents. Where I grew up, there was also a fatality where a driver lost control of his car and collided with a tree. The driver didn’t survive the crash.

Nasty things happen on Halloween night. Don’t believe me? Here’s an interesting assault case and social host liability case based around a young adult party at a parents’ home which got out of hand on Halloween night. The case was tried at the Superior Court in Ontario. The young adult hosts served 56 bottles of beer, 24 bottles of vodka coolers, along with 2 bottles of rum, one bottle of vodka and a bottle of peach schnapps. Guests also brought their own alcohol. An assault ensued at the party, and the young adult host, along with the parents who owned the house got sued by the victim. It’s an interesting read and just goes to show that some crazy stuff happens on Halloween night.
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There is a cost to justice when you pay your lawyer by the hour. And that cost doesn’t come cheap.

Personal Injury Lawyers are the only lawyers I know who routinely and without blinking, take on cases which last years and years on end, without getting paid on an interim basis. We don’t ask for any monetary retainers. Essentially, we take the case for free and then, through skill, wit, hard work, experience and determination; achieve a monetary settlement or secure a judgment for our clients.

I cannot think of any other business or industry which operates on such a model. Want to get your house painted? The painter will likely ask that you pay a deposit, or pay for some materials up front. It’s only after the painter receives that deposit that the painter will begin to work. The painter will then get paid the balance upon completion of the job.

When you visit the dentist, they invoice you or your insurer immediately after treatment. If you’re not happy with the dentist’s work, the invoice still comes. There’s never any real risk that the dentist won’t get paid.
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