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February is traditionally a bitter cold month in Ontario. When I say bitter cold, I mean bitter cold. It’s on record as the second coldest month of the year, trailing only January by around a degree or so. February is dark, windy, cold, icy and snowy. It’s known to be depressing, grey and overall, a very blah month. I think everyone is glad that February is the shortest month, because the February weather in Ontario is not all that pleasant.

So, when we see weather above the freezing mark, getting up to 6 or 7 degrees; with sunshine, all we can do is smile! It’s like it’s springtime in February. Getting up to 6 or 7 degrees in February would be a record for warmest dates recorded.

But with the warm weather at such a early time, and so quick after a month or two of steady below zero temperatures, we need to be careful. The snow and ice is melting. This impacts the streets on which we drive, the walkways where we walk, the water levels of our rivers and streams, and those not so frozen lakes where we may be accustomed to ice fish or snowmobile around this time of year.

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It’s rather chilly in Ontario, with temperatures getting around the negative double digits.

When it gets this cold, ice forms and hardens significantly, making for difficult walking conditions on both public sidewalks, and private driveways and walkways.

Despite the poor walking conditions, there are still some daredevils out there who defy the cold temperatures and dare to wear sandals, flip flops, crocs or other footwear not associated with winter conditions.

So, what happens after a slip and fall case in Ontario? How are these cases started and built up by personal injury lawyers in order to get their clients the compensation which they deserve.

Cases are built upon facts and evidence.0008r_Goldfinger-200x300

This of these as the primary ingredients to a successful lawsuit. Without evidence, the case is going nowhere fast. You personal injury lawyer cannot simply conjure up evidence out of nowhere. And neither can you. Evidence in favour of your case either exists, or it does not. Some evidence is easy to gather. Other forms of evidence are not, and may need some form of higher power (like a Judge’s Order) to compel production.

Here’s an example of evidence which is easy for your personal injury lawyer to gather and to produce. Things like:

  • Clinical Notes and Records from the Hospital you attended after your slip and fall accident
  • Clinical Notes and Records from your Family Doctor or Nurse Practitioner, or the Walk In Clinic you attended after your slip and fall accident
  • Clinical Notes and Records from your Physiotherapist, Massage Therapist, Chiropractor or Occupational Therapist who you saw after your slip and fall accident
  • Pre-Accident and Post Accident tax returns which establish your base line pre-accident income, to show that you sustained a loss of income as a result of your slip and fall accident
  • Your Pre-Accident and Post Accident decoded OHIP Summary showing the doctor(s) you saw; and the frequency you saw those doctors before your slip and fall accident vs. the doctor(s) you saw, and the frequency you saw those doctors post slip and fall accident
  • Your employment file
  • Your ODSP File
  • Your CPP File
  • Your short term and/or long term disability benefits file
  • Your collateral benefits file
  • Your LHIN file
  • Photographs of your injuries, along with the ice patch which caused your fall (if you took any such photos and preserved them)
  • The ambulance call report, or the records from the police or fire department if they came to the scene of the accident to assist
  • Weather records for the days prior to your fall, the date of loss, and the days post slip and fall accident

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The home office of Goldfinger Injury Lawyers is in North York, near the busy Yonge and Sheppard intersection; a short distance from the 401, with TTC subway access to both the Yonge Line and to the Sheppard Line. It’s a busy area with lots of shops, restaurants, condos, traffic and construction. Finding a parking spot in the area can be tricky because it’s such a busy area.

We are fortunate to have reserved parking at the front and rear of our office. The spaces are reserved for our clients, employees and guests to our law firm.

All vehicles which park on site need to be registered. If they aren’t registered, they will get ticketed or towed.

Safety for our staff is very important. We don’t want any wrongdoers on site up to no good. In the past, we’ve had a few odd characters hanging out or lurking out back. When asked to leave, they did without issue.

But when there are problems, we have to call in for private security, for Toronto Parking Enforcement, or as a last resort, the police.

The purpose of this edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog post is to share with you what can happen when things get creepy on a private parking lot; and to share with you how even those who are required to uphold to law can fail (which shouldn’t happen, but it does). Our story isn’t a big deal. Nobody was hurt and no damage was done. But when the people who are there to enforce rules/laws and are incorrect in their understanding of the rules; chaos ensues.

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Distracted driving kills, just like drunk driving kills.

Driving requires concentration and focus. Today’s cars and our mobile technology try to shift our driving focus away from the road, and on to some type of screen. Lots of beeps, lights and vibrations to get us looking anywhere but on the road.

What would it be like to go back in time, and drive in an era before cell phones, touch screens in cars and Android Auto or Apple Car Play? Let’s take a look!

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People get injured in all sort of ways.

Right now, as you are reading this instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog; you probably aren’t thinking that something bad is going to happen to you or a loved one. That’s normal. And that’s why when these sort of terrible or catastrophic events happen; they are called accidents; because they are out of the blue, and unexpected.

When the injuries are catastrophic in nature, having your lawyer establish the nature and severity of those injuries might be the easiest part of the case. A Defendant would look rather foolish attempting to suggest that catastrophic injuries (paraplegia, quadriplegia, or a traumatic brain injury) aren’t very serious, life changing injuries which should be discarded are minor and of no significant consequence.

What can be more challenging for a Plaintiff and his her personal injury lawyer is finding the insurance to pay out for the lawsuit.

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My law firm Goldfinger Injury Lawyers has successfully handled countless slip and fall cases. We have recovered our clients millions of dollars getting them the compensation which they deserve after they’ve been seriously injured as a result of a slip and fall caused by the negligence of a property owner. Please note that past results are not indicative of future results.

People are curious as to where these slip and fall case take place. I’m sure we’ve all seen someone wipe out or fall to the ground. But does this mean that the person will have a successful case? Does this mean that someone will reach out to a personal injury lawyer in order to claim compensation for their injuries, damages, or losses?

This is Brian Goldfinger’s comprehensive list of the top 5 most common places our lawyers see slip and fall cases take place. We are releasing our top 5 list now in the winter time, because this is the time of year where we see the most slip and fall cases happen.

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More often than would think, insurance companies seek to add terms to a Full and Final Release which they would not otherwise be able to get in Court.

A Full and Final Release is a legal document which gets signed when a case gets settled outside of Court.

This is standard. Anyone who settles their case outside of Court in a personal injury or long term disability action will be asked by a Defendant to sign such a Release.

Generally, the Release will contain provisions detailing the amount of the settlement, terms that the settlement is final and binding on both parties, that the Defendant is prepared to pay the settlement amount, but does not admit liability, that the Plaintiff cannot sue again over this specific cause of action and that should s/he do so, that the Release will be relied upon to dismiss the case with costs; and that the terms of the settlement are confidential, but can be disclosed to lawyers, accountants and financial planners.

These terms are expected to be contained in a Release by plaintiff side personal injury lawyers. But sometimes (more often than you would expect) sophisticated insurers and their insureds try to get terms into the Release which fall well outside of the scope of the litigation. The Defendant is trying to get through the backdoor, what they cannot get through the front door.

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The law, above all else, ought to be transparent.

It should NOT be a secret society whereby only industry insiders have knowledge, power and insight that the general public does not have.

When a personal injury case goes to trial, the jury should be informed of how things work, so that they can make a fair and just decision. The jury should never be kept in the dark about how the law works, so that they can make an informed decision which will invariably impact the lives of the parties to the litigation.

Yet, the practice of personal injury law in Ontario has many secrets. You would think that it’s neither nice, nor fair to have secrets which are withheld from a jury during the course of a personal injury trial.

Yet there are secrets which personal injury lawyers and judges cannot share with the Jury until only after the Jury has made up their mind.

What are these secrets you ask? Let me share them with you.

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I’ve done some radio in the past.

I’ve done some television spots as well.

But what I’ve enjoyed the most are podcast appearances.

Don’t get me wrong. Radio and television are a lot of fun. They’ve both excellent mediums to educate and give updates on my chosen field; the practice of Plaintiff side personal injury law in Ontario.

It’s amazing how many people, know so little about such an important area of the law. Lots of people have cars. All motorists need to pay for car insurance. Car insurance is basically a legal contract.

The same applies to home owners and home owner insurance. It also applies to renters and rental insurance.

How about Ontario Disability Support, Unemployment Insurance (Disability/Sickness) or Canada Pension Plan-Disability. All of these relate to injuries or disabilities, and in turn, to personal injury law.

What about injured employees who need to take time off of work due to an injury, illness or stress leave. These people try to claim disability benefits from their employer and get denied. This is yet another branch of personal injury and disability law.

What I’m trying to say is that know a few basics about personal injury law isn’t such a bad thing for people to know. And by doing these media appearances, our office tries to educate the masses as best we can, in an easy to understand way.

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Contact Information
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167 Sheppard Ave W
Toronto, ON M2N 1M9
Phone: (416) 730-1777 Toll Free: (877) 730-1777 Fax: (416) 730-0955
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London, ON N6A 2R5
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420 George St N #313
Peterborough, ON K9H 3R5
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Kitchener, ON N2G 2L3
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Owen Sound, ON N4K 2H8
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Past results are not indicative of future results.

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