Published on:

By

Our office’s Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog has been a huge success at educating the general public about how car insurance works, how the Courts work with respect to personal injury claims, and all sort of other helpful information for accident victims, disability claimants and their families.

Our law firm prides itself on using easy to understand language to get the message across. We know that not everybody is comfortable reading hard to understand legal terms or “legalese” as we call it.

This has been a big week for car insurance law in Ontario. So much of the law involves politics. Believe it or not, politicians through our government create the laws we live by.

We vote for politicians, who in turn, have the power to make, break, or change laws. We often write about politics in the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog because decisions made at Queens Park have a major impact on personal injury law.

A few months ago, the Provincial Government introduced some radical changes to the Insurance Act. This is the piece of legislation which deals directly with how car accident law, and accident benefit law works. The changes were brought in very quickly, without any prior notice or debate. They were just passed through without the general public really knowing. You can read our previous blog post here posted on December 18, 2013.
Continue reading →

Published on:

By

Ontario’s Chief Justice, Annemarie Bonkalo recently signed an order approving the fine for distracted driving to increase from $155 to $280 effective March 18, 2014.

Want a copy of the Judicial Order? Here you go. Short, sweet and to the point.

This fine increase for distracted driving in Ontario has made provincial and national headlines. I really don’t know why as I think the fine being set so low is an embarrassment and an insult to the families and accident victims of distracted drivers.

Presently, the fine for distracted driving is just $155. That’s it. Minimum wage in Ontario just went up to $11/hr. That’s under two days of work over a 7.5 hour work day to pay off a distracted driving penalty for almost killing somebody or rendering them a quadriplegic.

So, what’s the big deal and why be so hard on distracted drivers? I mean, everybody seems to do it. It’s just a phone call, a quick text or a simple email; right? I’ve seen a Kardashian send out a VINE Video while driving, so it’s gotta be cool to do it!

Distracted driving is just as bad as dunk driving. Yes, I made the comparison. Shocked? Bold words, I know. But, our law firm sees the realities of distracted driving every day. To give you evidence of how serious the problem is, the US Government has its own OFFICIAL WEBSITE DEVOTED TO THE DANGERS OF DISTRACTED DRIVING. If you didn’t take the problem seriously before, maybe you will now that Barack Obama, the world’s most powerful world leader, got his own country to design a website and set up an agency devoted to increasing awareness.
Continue reading →

Published on:

By

While Canada was glued to their TVs watching Latvia play their version of a prevent defence in American Football, or an ultra conservative soccer defence, another story creeped up which caught my eye.

Today’s front page of the Globe & Mail had a story about Canadian Doctors being urged by 8 medical societies to reduce medical tests in order to save money.

Here is a copy of that Globe & Mail article.

The gist of this article states that Canadian doctors are wasting their time and money on unnecessary tests. All of these tests are a burden to the Canadian health care system. Imaging for complicated headaches, and lower back pain are seen as some of those unnecessary tests. Treatment for “minor” head injuries is also on the list. Just ask Sidney Crosby. No head injury is minor.

Tell that to some of my car accident and chronic pain clients. It would likely make them sick to their stomachs. Ever wait for an MRI? The wait period is months long (unless you get really lucky), and the time you get is very firm. Miss it, and you’re sent back to the bottom of the wait list. Months and months more of waiting around. The best is when they call you in for an MRI at 2AM or some other absurd time.
Continue reading →

Published on:

By

We receive many calls every week from people who have been denied their Long Term Disability Benefits, by private disability insurers such as Great West Life, SunLife, Manulife, Standard Life, Industrial Alliance, SSQ, Co-Operators, Empire Life, RBC Insurance and others.

People want to know what to do after they’ve been denied.

Denial, or termination letters are often lengthy detailed letters which include the provisions of your LTD policy, the definition of the term “disability” based on the policy, excepts from medical records or medical reports, along with the insurer’s reasoning to deny or terminate benefits.

After these long winded reasons are provided, the insurer will also then include ways that you can appeal their decision. Statements like you have 90 days from the date of this letter to appeal this decision through our Appeals/Investigation Committee are common. People call our law firm in an absolute PANIC stating that they’re under the gun and that their opportunity to appeal the claim is fast approaching.

What I tell these people is NOT TO WORRY, and NOT TO PANIC. These internal reviews or internal appeals are often a waste of time and energy. Here’s why Continue reading →

Published on:

By

This week I had the pleasure chatting with a kind Detective from the Toronto Police Service in the lobby of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. The CICB is where victims of crime can go to get compensation for their injuries resulting from a crime. So, if you’ve been shot or stabbed, you may claim compensation from the CICB. Our office can assist you with the hearing. Hearings take place in a majority of these case. That means you need to go to Court.

If you were to sue the wrong doer, chances are you wouldn’t be able to recover very much money because most wrong doers are judgment proof (unless the wrong doer is a known multimillionaire). That means that they have no quantifiable assets. A stack of money under a pillow doesn’t count. The CICB awards victims of crimes with real money for their injuries, making these cases worth pursuing from a financial perspective.

Back to the story of the Detective and I. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

We were sharing war stories, chatting about the hit TV Show “The Wire“, along with some of the crazy situations we’ve both encountered.

It was an absolute pleasure hearing the perspective from a Detective. Did you know that it’s the police officers who prepare the warrants and all of the legal paperwork which is later relied on by the Crown to prosecute a case? Unlike in the United States where the Attorney General and their lawyers and law clerks prepare this sort of paper work; here it’s the officers themselves who do it.

These officers have no substantive legal training. They’re trained to be cops, not lawyers/paper pushers. Yet, their paper work is legal, and it’s scrutinized by Defence Lawyers and Judges alike. Their paperwork is so important to advancing the Crown’s position. Seems like an unfair fight having paper work prepared by a police officer torn to shreds by an experienced Defence Lawyer along with their legal team. But I’m no expert when it comes to criminal law. Personal Injury Law is what we do best.
Continue reading →

Published on:

By

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?
Continue reading →

Published on:

By

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.
Continue reading →

Published on:

By

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.
Continue reading →

Published on:

By

We received quite the response from a recent Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog post dealing with trends in long term disability claims. The response was so overwhelming, we thought that we would futher explore those new trends in long term disability law and policies, along with other things which you ought to know when advancing your claim.

The first thing which you should know about making a long term disability claim is that with the exception of a bad faith claim, a claim for mental distress, along with a punitive/aggravated damages; these claims are essentially claims for your BENEFITS. The amount of what those benefits are is defined by your policy of insurance. This means that if your policy sets out that your monthly disability benefit amount of 66.67% of your pre-disability net income (which amounts to lets say $2,100/month), then your monthly disability benefit is $2,100/month.
Continue reading →

Published on:

By

When we think of injury or disability, the first thing which comes to mind are objective injuries. These are the sort of injuries which are obvious to the naked eye.

Often, a picture of a person in a cast, a person in a wheelchair, or using a crutch comes to mind. We think of broken bones, lost limbs, blood and gore.

What we don’t think about are the injuries we cannot see.

We don’t think about depression, anxiety, chronic pain, loss of memory, fatigue or any of a number of other countless symptoms which are subjective.

The distinction between what is a subjective injury, and what’s an objective injury is crucial to understanding many long term disability claims. Why is this distinction important?
Continue reading →

OTLA American Association for Justice Lexpert Ranked Lawyer
Contact Information
Toronto Office
167 Sheppard Ave W
Toronto, ON M2N 1M9
Phone: (416) 730-1777 Toll Free: (877) 730-1777 Fax: (416) 730-0955
London Meeting Office
341 Talbot St
London, ON N6A 2R5
Toll Free: (877) 730-1777
Peterborough Meeting Office
420 George St N #313
Peterborough, ON K9H 3R5
Toll Free: (877) 730-1777
Kitchener Meeting Office
290 King St E
Kitchener, ON N2G 2L3
Toll Free: (877) 730-1777
Owen Sound Meeting Office
1051 2nd Ave E
Owen Sound, ON N4K 2H8
Toll Free: (877) 730-1777

Past results are not indicative of future results.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2025, Goldfinger Law
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design