If you are ever selected to sit on a jury for an Ontario car accident case, there are some important things you may not be told during the trial. Although the injured person is suing the at-fault driver, in most cases it is actually the driver's automobile insurance company that is defending the lawsuit and paying the damages, subject to the insurance policy. You may also not [...]
If you have been seriously injured, choosing a lawyer is an important decision. You may be dealing with that lawyer for several years. Before you hire someone, there are a few questions I think you should ask. How long have you been practicing personal injury law? There is no substitute for experience. Personal injury cases can involve complicated medical evidence, expert witnesses, future income loss [...]
“Tell me about yourself.” That probably isn’t the question you expected. Most people think our first conversation will begin with the accident, the injuries, or the insurance company. Those things are important, but before I can explain how your injuries have changed your life, I need to understand the life you were living before the accident. I want to know what brought you happiness, what [...]
If you've been injured in a car accident in Ontario, you might assume that any settlement for your pain and suffering will be paid in full. But many accident victims face an unpleasant and costly surprise. Ontario’s statutory deductible could slash your compensation significantly. The Hidden Deduction: What Is the Car Accident Deductible? Ontario’s auto insurance system imposes a deductible on claims for pain and [...]
At the risk of stating the obvious, the Covid pandemic dramatically changed society in countless ways. In the legal field, it brought about many improvements that were sorely needed to facilitate Canadians’ access to justice. In-person appearances, for example, whether for criminal matters, family or civil, had to creatively arranged so that they could be attended remotely using platforms such as Zoom. This meant much [...]
In Ontario, the law that governs all motor vehicle accidents, commonly referred as “car accidents”, is complex and difficult to understand. A good starting point is to ask the question, “what is a motor vehicle accident”? To answer this simply, a motor vehicle accident means an accident in which at least one motor vehicle was involved. Whether it be a car, a truck, a motorcycle [...]
Many businesses offer group insurance polices to their employees, which include insurance for long-term disabilities, or LTDs. LTD claims are, however, often denied by insurance companies, leading frustrated, disabled employees having to resort to suing the insurance company that denied the claim. But what if the long-term disability is a result of a car accident or a slip-and-fall? You may have seen commercials advertising law [...]
If you accidentally trip or slip, gravity takes over and you hit the ground, often causing injuries. If you are like most Canadians, your initial reaction is embarrassment and a feeling that it was somehow your fault. Under our laws, the owner or tenant of the place where you fell is responsible to keep the area reasonably safe. If they knew or should have known [...]
Most of us Canadians aren’t litigious by nature. When we are involved in an accident, suing whoever might have caused it is often the last thing on our mind. So why sue? Firstly, it is important to consider who is really paying out in lawsuits the vast majority of the time: insurance companies. Whether we were in a car accident, slipped and fell on some [...]
Dog bites often occur to friends or family members of the owner of the dog in question. As a result, many dog-bite victims choose not to pursue a lawsuit against the dog’s owner, whereas they most likely would have if he or she had been a stranger. This should not be the case. Under the Dog Owners’ Liability Act in Ontario, the owner of a [...]