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99% of all car accident and injury cases settle out of Court.

1% (or less) of car accident and injury cases do in fact go to trial.

Civil Trials happen in 2 ways in Ontario. They’re either Judge alone; or, they’re Judge and Jury trials.

I just read a very interesting case that was recently released to the public. It was a brain injury trial/psych injury case which the lawyers estimated would take 3 weeks to hear. Instead, the trial took over 6 weeks to be heard. A link to the case can be found here.

Also, interesting to note that in this case, the car accident took place on August 3, 2001. The trial concluded on June 27, 2013, although cost submissions are not due until the end of September 2014. For you stats guys out there who love reading the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog, that’s 12 years, 10 months and 26 days between the time of the car accident, and the conclusion of the trial (not including cost submissions).

To make matters even more complicated, I believe that the lawyer for the insurance company/defendant in this case may be appealing this decision. That means that the accident victim won’t get ANY money until the appeal is heard, which could take a number of more years.
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A recent CBC News story cited that chronic pain impacts one in five Canadians. That’s a helluva a lot of Canadians who have to deal with chronic pain. In case you’re wondering, “helluva” is NOT a legal term.

Are you suffering from chronic pain? Do you know what it’s like to live day after day with a pain that won’t subside. Do you know what it’s like to deal with pain that’s so bad you can’t focus, can’t concentrate, and causes you energy to deplete such that all you feel like doing is staying in bed all day long?

I wouldn’t wish this type of pain on my worst enemy. Dealing with chronic pain, and treating it are hard enough.

Having to explain your symptoms, along with your daily routine and why you can’t function for an already skeptical insurance adjuster and insurance lawyer are even more difficult.

Making matters even worse is that treating chronic pain isn’t always as simple as taking a pill and hoping that the pain goes away. The wait time to see a chronic pain doctor (commonly referred to as physiatrists, or rheumatologists or some family doctors with special training in chronic pain also qualify) can be over a year.

If you live in a rural community, then finding such a doctor might require travel to a more urban centre. I’ve seen clients from North Eastern Ontario and the Kawarthas travel to Peterborough or to Toronto for treatment. Sometimes they have to travel to Oshawa depending on the availability of doctors.
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When a police officer asks us a question, we’re taught to do our very best to co-operate. Why wouldn’t we want to co-operate with the authorities and help them do their jobs.

When I was young, we were taught in school to answer questions as best as we can. We weren’t very concerned with issues of fraud or breach of privacy as we are today.

Those hard and fast principals go out the door in a legal context.

In a legal setting, when you’re asked a question, you had better make sure that your answers aren’t going to hurt your case, or stop your case from proceeding before it’s even had a chance of getting off the ground.

These warnings don’t apply as much with authorities such as the police, as they would with insurance adjusters.

You would be amazed at the amount of personal and confidential information which accident victims freely give up to insurance companies over a simple phone call or during a simple statement.

After you’ve been involved in a serious car or motorcycle accident, it’s pretty safe to say that either one of the parties or the police will report the accident to the parties’ respective insurance companies.
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Recently, police forces from across Ontario began a 6 week distracted driving blitz. They’ve been handing out tickets left right and centre to crack down on offences like texting while driving, operating a cell phone while driving etc.

With the increase popularity and availability of smart phones, distracted driving has become a “hot button” safety issue. I remember when drunk driving was the “hot button” safe driving issue. Not that drunk driving offences are out of the public’s eye. They are now just sharing a bit of that spot light with distracted driving offences.

I remember when cell phones were are big a bricks. It was a status symbol to have one of these large cell phones. It was even a bigger status symbol to be seen chatting on that cell phone, during day time hours (when the minutes cost lost of $$$), and driving a car. That image gave off an impression of wealth, power, elevated status and success. You looked like a real shooter chatting on the cell phone while driving.

Who can forget the large centre console car phones (Cantel). They had a proper speaker feature, or you could also pull them up to your ear. The buttons were small, and you had to look down away from the windshield to make a call, or pick up the phone. These car phones were death traps; but they were also a status symbol.

Technology and times have changed significantly. With that, so has the etiquette and safety protocols of driving with a cell phone or mobile device in your car.
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Received a few calls wanting commentary on the recent fatal accident involving a 7 year old. The accident took place at intersection of Millwood Road and McRae Drive, south of Eglinton Avenue in Toronto in an affluent area of the City known as Leaside. The intersection has a baseball diamond nearby, a park and a children’s summer camp as well. Kids play in that area.

The facts of the case are still rather murky. All we know for certainty is that the child was struck by a van trying to make a right hand turn. No charges have been laid. Police continue to investigate this matter. Speed may or may not be an issue in this case. We’re still not certain.

Dignitaries and politicians attended at the child’s funeral including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Kathleen Wynne. Any funeral attended both by the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premier of Ontario is going to be a big story.

A fund raiser for Sick Kids in memory of the child raised well over $55K.

To say that the accident was a big deal and a big news story is an understatement. This car accident received national media attention.
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If you’ve consulted with a personal injury lawyer, then you’ve likely heard, or found out that 99% of these sort of claims settle BEFORE trial.

One of the tools which lawyers use to foster settlement is called mediation.

Mediation is an important step in any legal case. In fact, mediation is so important, that in Toronto, Ottawa and Windsor, mediation is actually required BEFORE a matter can be set down for trial. The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) requires that all accident benefit disputes get mediated BEFORE they can proceed to Arbitration or to litigation. if you fail to mediate, then you can’t proceed.

Many clients want to know what they can expect at mediation. It’s a very good question considering that it’s such an important step in your case, and at the end of the day, the case might get settled if the mediation is successful. Mediation can be particularly nerve wracking for many because accident victims have never been through the process before.

The purpose of this Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog post is to get you more familiar with the mediation process; what to expect; and how it works.
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Today I purchased a new car seat for my young one. The amount of safety technology they put in to car seats for little ones is astonishing. I think that an army of engineers and crash collision experts spent years developing the safety technology in the car seat. The safety features of the car seat, combined the the safety features of modern automobiles such as front and side airbags, ABS breaks, re-enforced steel etc. can really give you a sense of security.

Did I mention the sheer selection of car seats on the market? The amount of brands, combined with the amount of options makes your task as a parent a difficult one. If the sales person doesn’t know anything about the brand or safety features, then you’d better hit the internet and hit it hard. The safety of your child isn’t something you want to take for granted.

Which got me thinking. If child car seat and auto manufacturers are putting in so much thought in to child safety; what are the Courts doing to protect the interests of children and minors?

Great question!

Rule 7.08 protects the rights of minors, which are, for the purposes of the Rules of Civil Procedure; “parties under disability” under the law of Ontario. Any person under the age of 18 is a “party under disability” and will need to be represented by an adult for the purposes of the law suit.
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The idea behind Critical Illness Insurance sounds great.

If you suffer from a particular critical illness, then the insurance company will pay you a lump sum.

What sort of critical illnesses are covered are defined by the policy.

It all sounds great, and sounds like a very lucrative proposition. For many, this sort of insurance bets AGAINST your very own health. People think that if they sustain a heart attack, then they’ll be entitled to a lump sum under the policy. So, eating that hamburger and skipping that workout might actually pay out in the long term if your critical illness policy works the way you think it works.

Unfortunately, many of these policies don’t work they way that you think they work, or the way that the broker who sold you the policy explained it to you.
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Yesterday, there was a fatal crash on Highway 401 just outside of Whitby. The accident involved 4 vehicles (a Toyota Corolla, a transport truck, a tour bus, and a Pontiac motor vehicle).

The transport truck hit the Corolla at around 10:30AM, so visibility was likely not an issue around that time of day. Police are still uncertain about how the accident happened, but they suspect that the transport truck rear ended the Corolla.

There were 3 passengers in the Corolla. The driver (47 years old) and front seat passenger (29 years old) was taken by ambulance to the hospital with very serious injuries. The third passenger was seated in the back seat. He passed away at the accident scene. At law, this is what we call a fatality claim. Those claims, contrary to popular belief, do not attract as big as settlement as you would think. The pain and suffering for such claims is limited from the time of the accident, to the time of the death. If the death is instantaneous, the damages for pain and suffering will not be significant.

Where the damages can get significant are where there are Family Law Act Claims, along with claims for loss of income to the family.
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You know what’s fun?

Posting status updates on Facebook.

Posting pictures on Instagram.

Posting videos on Vine.

Posting your day to day thoughts on Twitter.

Posting your new job on LinkedIn.

Social media is FUN.

But just because something is fun or popular, doesn’t mean that it’s right for you, particularly when you’re in the middle of a litigation battle against a large, deep pocketed insurance company.

The purpose of this Toronto Injury Blog Post is to show you how insurers can and WILL use social media against you to defeat your credibility and to defeat your personal injury case.
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