COVID-19 Update: How We Are Serving and Protecting Our Clients

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I was recently at a kid’s birthday party. It was my son’s first “real” birthday party. He hadn’t been to a “real” birthday party in around 2 years or so due to the COVID Pandemic.

It was great socializing with adults from his class. It was great seeing my child interact with his classmates at a birthday party. It was great to be out and about after such a long period of on and off again lockdowns, fear and uncertainty.

One of the adults at the party told me that he kept up with the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog. He wanted to know how we came up with so many topics to discuss; week after week.

Here are some secrets from behind the curtain about how we come up with topics.

Many would think that personal injury law is a limited topic. But it’s not. Personal Injury Law encompasses so much which people can relate to.

People drive cars, ride transit, walk or ride bikes to get around. Once you participate in any or all of these activities, you open yourself up to a potential claim. Who amongst us hasn’t seen a car accident; or the aftermath of a car accident? How many times have you drove on the highway or passed an accident scene with flashing police lights, firemen and paramedics.

We all know or have heard of someone who has been involved in an accident; whether it’s serious or not. We all likely have someone in our lives who is sick, ill, or disabled from working. They likely require, receive or have applied for either government assistance, or insurance benefits from a private insurer.

In order to drive a motor vehicle you require car insurance. It’s the law.

Who hasn’t done something “risky” like bungee jumping, sky diving, skiing, put their kids in a bouncy castle; or some other action sport which requires the participant to sign a waiver?

Who hasn’t seen a vicious dog or been afraid of a vicious neighbourhood dog? Perhaps that dog got off leash and bit someone?

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April 1, 2016 was an important date for car accident victims across Ontario. Not because it was April Fools Day. But because on this date, everything to do with hearing and adjudicating accident benefit disputes in Ontario changed.

All accident benefit disputes filed on or after April 1, 2016 which used to be heard at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario were from that point forward heard at the License Appeals Tribunal or LAT for short.

Only around 2 or 3 adjudicators from FSCO transferred over to the LAT, so there was no real continuity or institutional knowledge which had carried over from FSCO to the LAT.

Adjudicators at the LAT were not bound by any precedent set by the years of caselaw developed at FSCO.

There were new shorter time lines which the parties had to deal with. New rules regarding expert reports and expert qualifications.

Costs only awarded in rare circumstances, and when costs are awarded, they are under the low end of the spectrum.

The cost burden shifted significantly to the injured accident victim who has much less money to spend on legal fees than does the insurance company who they are fighting against.

At FSCO the accident victim simply filed for mediation. The cost of filing for mediation was free to the accident victim. If the mediation failed, the accident victim could give up on the case, pay $100 to file for Arbitration, or elect to sue in Superior Court.

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I’ve been involved in a car accident.

How do I start my personal injury case?

This should be an easy question. And it was a much easier question to answer in the 70’s or in the 80’s. But in 2022, car accident law along with car accident cases have become very complex. Car accident law should NOT be rocket science. Unfortunately, it has become rather close needing skilled and expert personal injury lawyers to handle these sort of cases.

Let’s get the stuff out of the way which does NOT require the expertise of a skilled personal injury lawyer.

You don’t need a personal injury lawyer to dial 9-1-1 to contact the police or an ambulance about your car accident

You don’t need a personal injury lawyer to go to the hospital to get medical treatment for your injuries

You don’t need a personal injury lawyer to get the name, contact and insurance information of the other driver (but your lawyer car certainly do that if you forgot or could not do so)

You don’t need a personal injury lawyer to report the accident to your own insurance company (although your personal injury lawyer can do that as well if you’re not able to do so on account of your injuries)

You do not need a personal injury lawyer to take photographs of your injuries or of the damage to the vehicle(s) involved in the car accident

All of these things sound and ought to be simple. It’s common sense. But the thing about common sense is that it ain’t so common.

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When assessing cases, both Plaintiffs and Defendants need to evaluate risk.

What are the chances of success and more importantly; what does success look like?

For an insurer Defendant, the ideal successful case will involve a quick and quiet dismissal of the action; with or without costs. The case is closed and the insurer does not have to pay.

For an injured Plaintiff, success can mean a lot of things. It can mean a finding of liability against a Defendant which signals to the Plaintiff that s/he was right. It can mean a declaration that the Plaintiff is disabled or entitled to benefits which also validates a Plaintiff.

But for most personal injury lawyers and insurance companies, what they really look at is the worth of the case on the best day scenario for a Plaintiff (or worst day for the Defendant).

Now these estimates can vary depending on the lens through which the case is assessed. But it’s equally important for Defendant insurers to have an honest assessment of their potential exposure on a case so that they can underwrite it properly. Just as it’s important for a Plaintiff to understand their best day, or worst day so that they can best assess their risk every step of the way in the litigation process.

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Changes in seasons means changes in behaviour and patterns. Now that we are experiencing some “warmer” weather; we are seeing more people out and about. And I use the term “warmer” rather loosely. We aren’t seeing negative temperatures anymore and there isn’t any snow, ice, or slush on the ground. Here are a few of the trends that we see in personal injury law as the temperatures begin to heat up.

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The majority of my clients are first time litigants:

  1. It’s their first time retaining a personal injury lawyer; or retaining a lawyer at all
  2. It’s their first time suing
  3. It’s their first experience with the legal system
  4. It’s their first time getting really hurt and needing to do something about it from a legal perspective
  5. It’s their first time getting denied by an insurance company
  6. It’s their first time feeling gaslit by an insurance company
  7. It’s their first time participating in sworn statements, an examination for discovery, medico-legal assessments, mediation, having surveillance conducted on them, Pre-Trial, Trial and all of the other things which go hand in hand with personal injury cases

The parties which my clients sue or seek benefits from are large and sophisticated insurance companies. This is not their first rodeo. They are well versed in the dark arts of litigation. Strategically defending lawsuits is what they do well.

Insurance companies know what they are up against. They are facing off against for the most part, unsophisticated accident victims who are hurt or injured. The Plaintiffs are new to litigation and all of the ups and downs which it presents. Insurance companies know how to say the right things because they have experience. Having their lawyers say “healing words” to appease a Plaintiff; or say all the right things to gloss over a terrible sequence of events is less expensive than paying out an award for damages.

An apology costs n0thing. Stating condolences for the loss of a loved one costs nothing as well.

But paying out of a claim costs the price of said claim.

There is a quantifiable economic difference between the two which insurance companies and their lawyers know all too well. Why pay out on a claim when you don’t have to? Why pay more on a case when you don’t have to? It makes financial sense. If an insurance company either liked your claim, or wanted to get you the compensation you deserve; you would have received that compensation by now.

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Do I have a personal injury case? You be the Judge.

Once upon a time there was woman who was walking in a public park.  It was winter and cold and icy. In the middle of the park stood a large snow covered hill. There was no visible path up the hill because it was covered in snow and ice. The hill had been used by children for tobogganing, but there was nobody tobogganing on that particular day.

There were signs along the hill from the City/Municipality stating “Hill and Paths not maintained in the Winter. Use at your own risk“.

The hill was both high, steep, snow covered and slippery. But it was also very tempting and mysterious for the woman in the park who was standing at the foot of the giant hill. What could be on top of the hill? What could be on the other side of the hill? Am I strong enough to climb the hill and make it all the way to the top? Do you think that I would set a record for being the first person to climb the hill in the winter? If I climbed the hill on my own, would I win a prize? Perhaps I would be on the news for climbing this glorious hill….

So many questions, so little time; and such a tempting hill.

The woman could not resist. Her curiosity got he best of her and she proceeded to climb the hill. Slowly but surely, she summited to the top of the hill. But when near the top of the hill she lost her footing and twisted her ankle. She was not able to walk properly for days and needed some physiotherapy.

Now the woman calls a personal injury lawyer and shared her story of the giant hill in the public park. She wanted to sue the hill and sue the City/Municipality for not making the hill safe for people to climb in the winter. She wants to sue the manufacturer of her boots for not making the sturdy enough for the climb atop the hill.

It begs the question: Do I have a personal injury case?

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There are serious misconceptions of how people get paid, or receive benefits after they’ve been seriously hurt or injured in an accident.

You’ve likely heard stories of insurance companies paying for an accident victim’s lost wages, treatment costs or even getting them a modified vehicle or modified home before their case even settles.

Some of these things might be true. Some of these things might be false.

At the end of the day, it’s this sort of misinformation which creates large scale confusion as to what benefits get paid, and what benefits don’t get paid before a case even settles.

Goldfinger Injury Lawyers would like to set the record straight with this instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog.

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In March 2021 my daughter tested positive for COVID. She contracted it simply by going to school. She was asymptotic, but the positive test certainly impacted her mindset.

At the time she tested positive, Toronto Public Health had some pretty strict quarantine mandates for people who tested positive, or for people who had close connections with people who had tested positive. The result for my family amounted to a 31 day quarantine/isolation period. I have never been on home arrest, but I can imagine that was what it would feel like.

Earlier this week my son tested positive for COVID. I tested positive for COVID the same day.. Thankfully we are both doing fine in the circumstances. Raspy voice, cold like symptoms, body aches. Nothing terrible and we hope these symptoms don’t worsen.

For most parents with children under the age of 10; the most difficult thing about living with COVID isn’t the COVID itself. It’s having to watch and engage with the children while everyone is isolated at home. It sounds easy; but it isn’t; particularly after a long 2 years of on again, off again lockdowns. It hasn’t been the COVID that’s scared me. It’s the isolation and quarantine. While the quarantine times have shifted from 30 days, down to 15 days, down to 5 days; those days of quarantine add up and remain hard for parents with young children. There is only so much children can tolerate being on lock down inside of their homes. It’s not natural for kids or parents alike.

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Ontario is scheduled to drop most mask mandates by March 21, 2022. Whether or not this is the right move or not has nothing to do with being a personal injury lawyer; so I’ll just stay in my lane.

But, in creeping closer to this date we have seen an uptick of assault calls surfacing at our law firm. These assault claims are no uncommon, only we have seen more and more of them as the pandemic has dragged on.

It has become apparent to me that over the course of the pandemic we have forgotten how to interact with one another and share public spaces. It seems that more of us have a sense of entitlement, together with a disregard or a lack of respect for the safety and security in public places. In other words, we forgot how to share space and how to interact in public groups. This is something that will take time to re-learn. But, we will get there.

In the meantime, what do you do when a stranger assaults you? Do you have a personal injury case? And if so, how do you pursue that claim?

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