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This week marks my 20 year anniversary of being called to the Bar. Pretty neat. I’ve been practicing as a personal injury lawyer for pretty much all of that time. I’ve learned a lot over the past 2 decades. If I could go back in time and share some pearls of knowledge with my much younger, and more handsome self, here’s what I would have to say:

  1. Everyone’s path is different. In law school, you’re made to think there’s a cookie cutter approach as to what happens after your graduate from law school. Graduate from law school. Then get an articling job in the City of your choice, at the firm of your choice, in the area of law of your choice. Work at that law firm for a few years, climb their hierarchical ladder, get made partner, and let the good times roll. It’s all made to seem, and to sound, very linear. That’s how it can work for some. But for most lawyers, that’s not how the journey works at all. The practice of the law; just like life; is full of twists, turns, ups and downs. Not everything is going to go according to some grand plan which was conjured up in law school.  Just because your colleagues are doing things one way, doesn’t mean that way is right for you. And it certainly doesn’t mean that’s how things are going to pan out for you either. Think of it as you would a diverse vegetable garden. Each plant in your vegetable garden is different; and will have different needs to produce. Some require more water, some require less direct sun. Others are finicky when it comes to soil Ph levels. The path to growth, and what is required for that growth to occur might be similar, but it’s not the same for each plant. The same variances applies to new calls and lawyers of all stripes. Everyone’s growth and path will be different. That doesn’t means that one path is better than the other. You have to do what’s right for you.

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I’ve been watching a lot of youth soccer games of late. My son plays a lot of soccer.

Given my son’s young age, more experienced referees are not assigned to officiate his games. His referees tend to be young and inexperienced. They are looking at making a few extra bucks while contributing to a game they really enjoy.

The problem is, that the games tend to get out of hand because the young, inexperienced referees lack the experience, poise and confidence to control the game.

The game got so bad last week a parent from the opposing team walked onto the pitch during a water break to have a conversation with the referee. While I was not privy to their conversation, I imagine that they weren’t discussing the weather or making dinner plans.

In this week’s game, two players got shoved/punched in the face without repercussion to the offending player.

In a previous game, the teams were playing by different sports entirely. One team was playing beautiful futbol, while the other team was playing barbaric football.

When a player breaks the rules of the game, the referee is there to enforce those rules. Much like a police officer enforcing the rules of the road. A referee can penalize a player by calling a foul, or handing out a yellow card, or even a red card. A police officer can do the exact same by having a stern talk with a motorist who crosses the line, or even handing out a ticket or charging them with an offence.

When bad things happen without repercussion, they will not only continue to happen, but those actions will get worse and hurt people.

Nobody wants to see anyone hurt or injured in a youth soccer game. We all want the kids to have fun, and to develop. But on the path to fun and development in a competitive setting, there needs to be proper enforcement of the rules. There cannot be no consequences for negligence or intentional acts causing harm. Otherwise, people get hurt and may take things into their own hands which further escalates matters. Which got me to thinking about personal injury law.

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This is not the first time which the Personal Injury Law Blog has declared that it all comes down to the facts in a personal injury law case (or any case for that matter).

It’s nice to see Judges articulate what we have been saying all along in our blog entries.

The case of Veerasingam v. Licence Appeal Tribunal, 2024 ONSC 3730 has little to do with personal injury law. There was no accident. Nobody was personally injured. This has to do with a person’s application for a salesperson license, and the appeal process throughout.

But even before the background, facts or the law is discussed, the case starts out like this from The Honourable Justice Myers:

“The facts matter.

Many lawyers graduate from law school thinking that their cases will be won with erudite advocacy concerning esoteric questions of complex jurisprudence intertwined with contemporary ideals of public policy reform.

But as every experienced advocate understands, the reality of life in the trenches of civil litigation is that cases are primarily won or lost on their facts. When the facts suggest that the justice of the case lies a certain way, in the vast majority of cases, the law will support or, at least, will not stand in the way of the just outcome.
There are very few cases where judges write that, while they believe the just outcome is “X,” they are constrained by the law to find “Y.”  It happens. But not very often.“

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Jurisdiction is a term that we hear a lot in personal injury cases, but what does it really mean?

Jurisdiction is the power of a Court to hear a case, and/or enforce the law. Jurisdiction also means “the extent of a power to make, or to enforce law, judgment or legal decision“.

Which Court or Power has jurisdiction depends on a lot of factors. But, for the purpose of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog, we will focus on jurisdiction in personal injury cases.

As a rule of thumb, where the accident took place is a very good starting point for determining which Court has jurisdiction.

For example: let’s say that you have a slip and fall in Saskatchewan while on a trip to visit a family member. You call a lawyer based out of Toronto Ontario to see if they can handle your out of province claim. All of your treating doctors and specialists are based out of Toronto. You live in Toronto. So, based on that logic, you believe that your case should be commenced and heard in Toronto, Ontario.

But the law says that if you fell in Saskatchewan, your case will need to be commenced and started in Saskatchewan.

The Rules of Civil Procedure are a pretty good starting point for determining where to commence a claim; meaning which Court will have “jurisdiction” over the case itself.

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It’s not uncommon for pharmacies and pharmacists to make dispensing errors. Dispensing errors can get people very sick, cause prolonged disabilities, or even cause death. They are to be taken quite seriously.

What is a dispensing error?

In Ontario, you receive prescription mediation outside of a hospital setting from a licensed pharmacy/pharmacist. This means that you don’t go to the corner store to buy prescription medication from a random corner store owner.

A dispensing error occurs when a pharmacy/pharmacist dispenses the wrong medication to a patient. Or, dispenses the right mediation, but the wrong dosage of that medication.

Taking the wrong medication, or too much, or too little of the right medication can make people very sick and cause serious injuries.

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It’s golf season.

People use golf carts on golf courses.

People get injured using golf carts.

Sounds really weird when you put that in writing, but they’re all true statements!

People get injured in very strange, and sometime very serious (often catastrophic) ways in the use or operating of golf carts.

Do I have an explanation as to why this happens? I can put out a few theories:

1. Alcohol. Drinking on the golf course is a thing. Alcohol impairs your judgment. This impaired judgment and liquid courage to do things you normally wouldn’t can lead to disaster.

2. Inexperienced golf cart drivers. There is no driving test to operate a golf cart. Anyone can operate one on the course. It’s not like there are police officers on the golf course pulling people over for their erratic driving

3. Driving on terrain not suitable for a golf cart. Golf carts don’t really operate as a traditional off road vehicle with the large grippy tires, roll bars, or reinforced panelling. They tend to be flimsy buggies, meant to transport people and their golf clubs on relatively even terrain.

4. Speed and erratic driving. The top speed of a golf cart isn’t very fast, but it’s just fast enough to cause serious injury.  They aren’t meant for rolling hills, steep drops, or sharp turns at their top speed. Their centre of gravity isn’t the best, and they’re prone to tip over, unlike other off road vehicles which have a wider base and lower centre of gravity. They aren’t bumper cars, or dune buggies, though people tend to operate them as such.

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Your relationship with your personal injury lawyer can be a long one.

Some personal injury cases last many years (over 5+)!

Do you really want to endure 5+ years with a lawyer who you don’t like? Of course not! That’s why it’s very important to pick the right personal injury lawyer at the outset of your case. It’s an important decision which you should not take lightly.

Here are a few considerations when selecting a personal injury lawyer. Some of these tips may shock you, but we wouldn’t list them if we didn’t see them happen to innocent accident victims.

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For those unfamiliar with personal injury law, and more specifically, the law surrounding motor vehicle accidents (car crashes, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian-car accidents, bike-car accidents), the idea of what the law should be and how it works is perceived to be rather straight forward.

Car accident. Innocent accident victim not at fault. They were in the wrong place, and the wrong time and sustained injuries. Those injuries ought to be compensated by the car insurer for the at fault driver. Case closed.

Unfortunately, that’s not the way things work in Ontario.

We have take an easy to understand event (a car accident) and complicated that event tremendously.  The complexities have been created by the government at the behest of the insurance industry in order to keep the number of car accident claims down; and to limit the compensation available to innocent accident victims.

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You have been bitten by a dog.

The dog bite isn’t a small one. Rather, it’s quite a serious injury which will leave permanent and emotional scaring.

Your local Animal Control Unit is investigating the case, and has filed charges against the Dog Owner. But the charges, and the potential conviction will not pay for your past or future care costs, let alone compensate you for the pain and suffering which you have endured.

You retain a personal injury lawyer (hopefully one from Goldfinger Injury Lawyers) to help you get the compensation which you deserve.

If your case went to trial, you would win. It’s a pretty “open/shut” case whereby you were in the wrong place, at the wrong time. You did not provoke the dog. It was no muzzled, and the owner had lost control of the dog leading to the attack.

A Judge will have no problem finding liability against the dog owner, and that the dog caused your injuries. Needless to say, a Judge will rule in your favour and order that the Defendant pay you compensation for your injuries and future losses.

But this is not enough for a dog attack case.

Dog attack cases begin, and they end, on insurance coverage. The cold, hard, truth, is that in the overwhelming majority of dog attack cases, an innocent Plaintiff will only get paid the full value of what they are owned when there is insurance coverage for the dog attack. If there is no insurance coverage, then there is a strong likelihood that the Plaintiff will not recover what they are owned, or not make any recovery at all. When there is no insurance coverage, a Plaintiff cannot get blood from a stone.

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Sometimes personal injury cases are investigated by the police.

Sometimes, criminal, or quasi criminal charges will be laid on the Defendant (the at fault party).

What does this mean for your personal injury case, and how will your personal injury case be impacted by these charges and the ensuing police investigation?

Good questions!

This edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog will attempt to answer those questions, and more!

Criminal and quasi criminal charges happen in all types of personal injury cases.

In drunk driving cases, people are charged with the criminal offense of impaired driving.

In distracted driving cases, or for other driving offenses, people are charged under the Highway Traffic Act.

In sexual assault cases, the offending party can be charged under the Criminal Code as well.

When charges are laid, it triggers a police investigation, regardless of the severity of those charges.

The police have strong investigatory powers in order to complete their investigation into the incident. They can issue search warrants to search property. They can seize all sorts of records (medical, cell phone, business etc.). They can summons witnesses, who tend to cooperate more with police than they would with a personal injury lawyer for a civil case. They can call people in to the police station to give a statement, or take a statement (recorded or videotaped) from the parties in order to get a better idea of what took place.

The goal of the police in their investigation is to get down to the truth of what happened. The evidence which the police gather will assist the Court in determining whether or not the accused is guilty, or not guilty. If there isn’t enough evidence there to support the charges, or there isn’t a likely prospect of conviction, the charges will be dropped (in theory).

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