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!
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.
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.
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.
Here comes Santa Claus; here come Santa Claus; right down Santa Claus Lane…
Jingle Bells; jingle bells; jingle all the way…
All I want for Christmas, is you!
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.
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.
Winter time means slip and fall accidents on account of snow, ice, sleet a slush.
These slip and fall cases can cause serious injuries to innocent visitors to public (or private) spaces.
Think of a parking lot at a school, university, grocery store, or a shopping mall that isn’t properly plowed, sanded or salted. Or perhaps a local gas station that hasn’t been maintained after some serious winter weather.
After a Plaintiff slips, falls, get hurt; begins the rehab process; what happens next? What happens behind the scenes of such a case.
With years of dedicated assistance to serving innocent accident victims across Ontario, Goldfinger Injury Lawyers has seen countless of these cases. While no two cases are exactly alike; they do share a lot of commonalities. Each case is determined on its own set of facts. Many cases can be similar, but NOT the same.
Cold weather!
Snow!
Ice!
Yikes!
Winter means that you are either really excited because you happen to be a winter sports enthusiast (most people who love the winter also ski, snowshoe, play hockey and can’t get enough of the cold weather) or you are dreading what’s yet to come.
Whether or not you like, or dislike the winter weather doesn’t matter. But what does matter is that you stay safe for when the sidewalks, walk ways, stairs and entrances get wet, slushy, icy and slippery.
Around this time of year, our lawyers see an increase in client calls relating to slip and fall cases dealing with icy or slippery surfaces.
There is a very good reason for this aside from the obvious that it’s cold, snowy and can be icy outside. The reality is that the first winter storm or frost can catch us off guard. We aren’t quite ready for it. All of our “snow stuff“, such as winter boots, winter coats, hats and gloves were all packed away at the end of last winter, and have yet to be unpacked for the upcoming cold weather season.
We get a lot of questions and queries to the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog. Some serious. Some not so serious. In today’s edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog; Brian Goldfinger himself will answer those questions. Some serious answers. Others not so serious. So sit back, grab a nice hot cup of green tea and enjoy!
Question: Do snow tires actually work?
Answer: Yes they do! Not only that, but your car insurer will offer you a reduced premium if you can show proof that you have installed snow tires on to your vehicle. Keep in mind that personal injury lawyers love to hammer Defendants if they were involved in a winter weather collision and they didn’t have snow tires on their vehicle. They argue that the accident may have been prevented, or may have not been as serious had the vehicle been equipped with snow tires. A driver without snow tires will be frowned upon in the context of a personal injury case. So get them. And yes, they work!
Question: What’s the longest personal injury case you’ve ever been a part of; and why did it take so long?
Answer: 10 years and 2 months! The case took so long because the Plaintiff was a minor when the case began; and it took a while for the Plaintiff’s injuries to crystallize and plateau. It’s very difficult for a personal injury lawyer to recommend a settlement in year 3 of the case; if there’s a lot of uncertainty with respect to the Plaintiff’s health. Add the complication that the Plaintiff was young and growing and you have the recipe for a long drawn out case. This does not even take into consideration the complicating circumstances dealing with liability, causation or contributory negligence.
Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog