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Former Attorney General Michael Bryant is back in the news with the release of his new book 28 Seconds, A True Story of Addiction, Injustice and Tragedy. Notice how the “Tragedy” part in the title is last? The “tragedy” part should be first, because for those of you who have been following this story, it’s a tragedy for all those involved.

For those of who who haven’t been following, Michael Bryant’s story has fascinated those in the legal community; particularly the criminal bar and personal injury lawyers. His case is arguably the highest profile bike accident case in Toronto’s history. Never heard about it? Well, here it is in a nutshell.
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One of my first high profile personal injury cases was a dog bite case. A Toronto woman, walking her American Eskimo therapy dog was attacked by three off leash pit bulls in the park of an apartment complex. The American Eskimo named Simba was bitten relentlessly by its attackers and then torn to pieces. Its pure white as snow coat was stained red in its own blood. The owner of the dog witnessed the three pitbulls tearing her poor Simba to pieces. She tried to stop the attack and shelter Simba from the two attacking dogs. Smelling blood, the pitbulls continued their attack on the woman, tearing into her arms, legs, back, neck and abdomen. Simba died and the owner was injured both mentally and physically.

The case garnered media attention in the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail. Here’s a link to the excerpt from the Globe and Mail article.
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On August 6, 2012, Toronto cyclist Joseph Mavecs was riding his bike on St. Clair Avenue near Wychwood. He was riding without a bike helmet. He had a bag of groceries on the handle bars. As he was trying to make a left hand turn from St. Clair onto Wychwood, his bike tires became lodged in the exposed streetcar tracks on the roadway. Mr. Mavecs then flew off his bike, and hit his head on the pavement. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

If you’ve ever rode a bike, or driven a car on Toronto’s streets south of Bloor, you’ll quickly notice a few things. Firstly, the streets are congested with cars, bikes, pedestrians, parked deliverly trucks, construction closures, road maintenance, poodles etc. You name it; Toronto has it. Secondly, you”ll notice that there are a variety of exposed street car tracks. These tracks are used by the TTC. Some lines have been out of service for a long long time.
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People always ask me: Brian; I’ve been hurt in a car accident and now I can’t work. How am I going to pay my bills? How am I going to get by?

Great questions. Completely legitimate concerns. We here at Goldfinger Injury Lawyers recognize that if you’re name isn’t Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan (net worth 15 billion and the world’s wealthiest Sheikh), chances are that money is a big concern following a devastating car accident. HH-SHEIKH-KHALIFA-BIN-ZAYED-AL-NAHYAN.jpg

But first, I’d like to take a moment to recognize all the great emails I’ve been getting from my blog followers. My cousin Natalie formerly of Toronto, now of Florence by way of Los Angeles writes:
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One of the perks of any job can be the benefits. Such benefits can include money for a massage for relief after a stressful day, or for relief following a car accident. If you need a masseuse in the 905, seek out Lucas Jacobs RMT; he has magic hands.

Another perk can be the disability benefits; whether they be short or long term. Short term and long term disability benefits are often administered by separate third party insurers, such as Manulife, Great West Life, Standard Life, SunLife, Industrial Alliance, SSQ or even RBC Insurance. All of these insurance companies are known for processing, adjudicating, and administering short and long term disability claims.
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Located on the 7th floor of 361 University Avenue in downtown Toronto, the Estates Court is removed from the fast paced hustle and bustle of the ever busy Superior Court List across the street at 393 University Ave.

It’s not everyday a personal injury lawyer has to attend at Estates Court. There are a lot of differences between the Superior Court where motions in car accident cases are held, and the Estates Court.

For starters, the Estates Court is gorgeous compared to the Courtrooms on the 6th floor at 393 University Avenue. Sorry Masters. There’s actually space for counsel to sit down. Lawyers aren’t piled up on top of one another in a cramped up, windowless courtroom. Lawyers are treated like cattle. Seriously. Don’t believe me? Come by 393 University Ave on the 6th floor and you tell me if it’s as cozy Courtroom you initially pictured in your mind. Did I mention there are no windows?
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Here’s the short answer to that question: Yes you are required to attend a medical examination with a doctor or sometimes doctors hired and paid for by the insurance company for the purposes of your personal injury case.

But, Brian, what gives the insurance company the power to have me attend such an examination? I don’t want to see some quack doctor I’ve never met. I’m not comfortable disclosing to this doctor (who is a complete stranger) my pre-accident medical history and all of my accident related impairments. It all sounds creepy to me.

I agree.

But, Ontario’s Courts have provisions giving the Defendant Insurance company the right to have you attend such an examination where your health is an issue in your case (such as a car accident case or a brain injury case)
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Ontario Motorists will want to read this case. Provincial Court Justice Shaun Nakatsuru ruled that it was alright for a motorist to briefly hold their cell phone while driving. The facts of the case are interesting for anyone to read (lawyer or not).

Disclaimer Alert! This article is not intended to be legal advice and I am NOT advocating that you now go around holding your active cell phone while driving. That’s not cool.

Here are the facts of the case:

On April 26, 2010, the accused KHOJASTEH KAZEMI was returning to work from the CAS in Oshawa. She dropped her cell phone in the car while driving home on the DVP. She did not pick up her cell phone while driving on the highway. She arrived at a red light at the corner of Gerrard St. and River St. in Toronto, and proceeded to pick up her cell phone from the floor of the car.

A Toronto Police Office, PC Miller was standing at the corner on traffic duty. He saw Ms. Kazemi reaching down of the floor of her car, and he believed that she was pressing bottons on a cell phone. PC Miller tapped on Ms. Kazemi’s window and saw that she was holding an open Nokia flip phone (do those even exist anymore?). PC Miller gave Ms. Kazemi a ticket under the new provisions of the Highway Traffic Act (ss 78.1) under the distracted driver provisions of the Act.
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The SABS were changed effective September 1, 2010, requiring that in order to recieve Attendant Care Benefits, and injured party must show that the care giver has sustained an economic loss, and that the expense has in fact been an “incurred expense“. That effectively means that if the care provider was unemployed before the accident, they would NOT be entitled to recieve any attendant care benefits, because no economic loss has been sustained.

What this change to the SABS has done, is effectively limited a family member’s ability to collect attendant care benefits, particularly if that family member was unemployed before the car accident, or a stay at home parent. The rationale is that the attendant care provider would have been at home anyways, so why provide them with any benefits.
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Goldfinger Injury Lawyers is celebrating Brain Injury Awarness Month by donating 100 bike helmets to children in need. Donations have been made to communities in Toronto, London and Peterbourough. Bike accidents, and cyclists wearing helmets are the number 1 preventer of head and brain injury. There has been a lot of discussion as of late in news about what laws and legistlation either need, or don’t need to be enacted in order to prevent brain injury.
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