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Insurance companies along with their third party contractor occupational therapists and rehabilitation companies seek to take advantage of innocent accident victims when they are at their most vulnerable. Immediately following a serious accident.

Innocent accident victims are shook following a serious car accident. Their world has been turned upside-down.

They have to manage a boat load of little emergencies because life as they know it has changed. They might be non-weight bearing in hospital in need of 24/7 attendant care, but life still goes on.

Who is going to look after the kids while you’re injured?

Who is going to walk the dog, get the groceries or take out the garbage?

How am I going to manage my work obligations?

How am I going to pay my bills?

Who is going to pay for all of the treatment and medication I need?

Who is going to help me fill out the pile of forms which the insurance companies are asking me for?

How do I apply for Government assistance?

The last thing you need is a stranger doing an assessment of you when you’re in such a vulnerable physical and emotional state.

Yet this is exactly what seems to happen time and time again.

Your car insurer will hear about your car accident one way or another. The more serious the accident, the greater the chance that your insurer will find out about the accident rather quickly, even if you have not reported it. Chances are the other party or parties who were involved in the car accident have. The insurer can track the party involved just by virtue of a quick license plate check; or by checking up the information contained in the Police Report or Occurrence Summary.

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Car accidents happen. They are unpredictable and don’t discriminate based on age, gender, religion and socio-economic status. They happen to poor people, rich people, middle class people, retired people, disabled people and gainfully employed people. There isn’t any method to the selection of an accident victim. It’s completely random. Serious car accidents happen to good people who are simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time. They fall victim to fate, time and circumstance. Some accidents are avoidable. While others are not.

This Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post will tell the tale of Brian Goldfinger and the Catastrophic Car Accident.

The term “catastrophic” is a very important legal term when it comes to car accident law in the Province of Ontario. In plain English, “catastrophic” is a word used to describe sudden and very serious damage; as having a very significant impact.

But at law, the term “catastrophic” means something different altogether. Under the SABS and in the Insurance Act, the term “catastrophic” is used as a definer to establish an accident victim’s injuries are very serious. Being deemed “catastrophic” by your car insurer means that your injuries have met a medico-legal definition. Once that definition is met, the catastrophic car accident victim is entitled to a wider variety, and an greater amount of benefits then another accident victim whose injuries have not been deemed catastrophic. For example, a catastrophic accident victim is entitled to case management services. A non-catastrophic accident victim is not. A catastrophic accident victim is entitled to a combined attendant care and med/rehab limit of $1,000,000 for treatment and services deemed to be both reasonable and necessary. The limits for a non-catastrophic car accident victim are either $3,500 under the Minor Injury Guideline; or $65,000 under the regular guidelines.

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It doesn’t matter the season, the weather, the time of day, or the conditions. Slip and falls happen. Sometimes there are no injuries. Sometimes there can be very serious, even catastrophic injuries. When a bad slip and fall does happen, people often seek out the services of a personal injury lawyer to get them the compensation which they deserve to restore some form of dignity to their lives. The compensation recovered by your personal injury lawyer cannot only help make ends meet for the present, but can also provide a degree of future care support moving forward.

Today’s edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog will focus on “Brian Goldfinger and the case of the Bad Slip and Fall”.

Once upon a time, there was a nice elderly man. Let’s call him “Fred“. Fred lived a semi-retired life in a rural property just outside of Peterborough, ON. Fred is a fictional character.

One day, Fred headed in to town to do some grocery shopping and some banking. It was a normal fall day in September. The weather was cool, and the skies were sunny.

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I suppose the title of this edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post is slightly misleading. It may suggest that I, Brian Goldfinger, am going back to school. While this sounds like a great and enlightening idea, I am not going back to school.

Rather, this Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post will deal with Brian Goldfinger’s observations on students returning to school earlier this week.

My children began school on the Tuesday after labour day. Other began school on Wednesday, September 7th. Older university students got settled in their dorms and residences over the Labour Day Long Weekend.

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A personal injury case starts and ends with a Plaintiff and his/her personal injury lawyer.

Without a Plaintiff and his/her personal injury lawyer making a claim, there is no personal injury case to begin with.

This has an industry wide impact.

That means there is one less claim for an insurance adjuster to handle; which can translate into one less job if you really think of it.

That means there is one less Statement of Claim, Motion Record, Trial Record for a process server to serve/file.

That means there is one less medico-legal assessment for an expert to evaluate.

That means there is one less examination for discovery for a reporter to book and to transcribe.

That means there is one less file for a mediator to mediate; one less board room to be booked; one less lunch booking for a caterer.

That means there is one less file for a insurance defence lawyer to defend and to bill on.

That means there is one less legal assistant or law clerk to help the lawyer do his/her job on the file.

The entire personal injury industry, as we know it; is built upon innocent accident victims reaching out to a personal injury lawyer; and that personal injury lawyer advancing the accident victim’s rights to get him/her the compensation which s/he deserves. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent and exchanged in handling, managing, litigating and adjudicating those claims.

There is no better example of this than a recent case we had. Let me illustrate.

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Throwing my name “Brian Goldfinger” into the title of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog posts makes the post sound like a Young Adult mystery novel. My daughter has found the titles to the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog posts with my name in them quite interesting. But she has told me that the content of the posts doesn’t quite live up to the hype of the title. Let’s see if we can change that with this instalment.

There are a lot of Long Term Disability Insurance companies out there. Sometimes you get the chose which company you can go through by purchasing individual benefits outside of work directly from an insurer or an insurance broker. Other times, the individual has no choice and goes through their company benefit plan which was negotiated by the company or through the Union. Sometimes a company will switch benefit providers; so you may have stared with one private insurer; and then the entire company switches over to another long term disability insurer.

Sometimes there is choice. Other times, there isn’t choice.

It all depends on the individual facts and circumstances of employment.

Some examples of insurance companies which provide long term disability benefits in Ontario or Canada for that matter include, but aren’t limited to:

  • SunLife
  • Manulife
  • Canada Life
  • Great West Life
  • SSQ
  • La Capitale
  • Blue Cross
  • Industrial Alliance
  • RBC Insurance
  • Co-Operators Insurance
  • Desjardins Insurance
  • Equitable Life

Most auto insurers don’t offer long term disability insurance; the same way that most long term disability insurers don’t offer auto insurance. Although, there are a few companies which offer both. But this is not ordinary in the world of long term disability insurance.

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Today it rained as hard as I can remember in the Yonge/Sheppard area of North York. No thunder. No lightning. Just a lot of rain, with a sprinkle of hail for good measure.

As a result of the heavy rain, our office experienced flooding in the basement. It was pretty bad. All hands were on deck, doing our best to mop up the water and prevent further damage.

The resulting water damage got me thinking about all of those people who experience property damage on account of water, fire, wind or other natural (or unatural) causes.

What do you do when this happens to your property?

What steps should you take in order to protect your rights and preserve your interests?

All good questions.

Our law firm handles a lot of property damage claims. These are claims specifically related to damaged property. So, not cars which are damaged in car accidents. We are talking about damage to one’s home, office, or place of business; along with all of the equipment, chattel and contents contained therein. I repeat  that damage sustained to your vehicle as a result of a car accident is not applicable to these claims thanks to some provisions contained in the Insurance Act.

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Let’s break things down in really easy to understand terms.

If you have been involved in a car accident, you are entitled to accident benefits from your own car insurance company.

If you didn’t have car insurance at the time of the accident because you were a passenger, cyclist or pedestrian; then don’t worry. The law has thought of that. Under the priority rules of the Insurance Act, the other motorist’s car insurance needs to cover your accident benefits.

If the other driver didn’t have any car insurance; and you didn’t have any car insurance; and nobody can find a car insurer to claim from in relation to the subject car accident: don’t worry! The law has thought of that as well. Under the priority rules of the Insurance Act, the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund (MVACF) steps in to the shoes of where the auto insurer should be and pays out of the claim. Basically, the government steps in to the shoes of the hole left by the lack of private insurance for the case.

Once we have established insurance, it’s time for the injured accident victim to make a claim for benefits.

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Goldfinger Injury Lawyers is seeking a Plaintiff Personal Injury Lawyer (New Call to 2 Years Experience) for our busy practice. We handle all sorts of car accident (tort + AB), long term disability, slip and fall, dog bite and professional negligence cases. Our clients come from all across Ontario; with our central office located at Yonge & Sheppard in North York. Job duties have changed dramatically on account of COVID as most hearings, discoveries, mediations, and meetings have been taking place by way of video conference. If these trends continue, this will mean a reduction in travel time for our associates. We offer a competitive compensation package commensurate with market rates and experience. We also offer a collegial work environment with great mentorship. If you want to become a great personal injury lawyer, this is the place for you.

Job Type: Fixed term contract

Contract length: 12 months

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The front page story of today’s Globe & Mail (print) newspaper read “Woman at centre of scandal breaks silence“; referring to the complainant who stepped forward in the sexual assault lawsuit against Hockey Canada and some players.

More interesting were the comments from the personal injury lawyer who says “in watching the coverage of his client’s complaint it has been frustrating to see misinformation circulate that she did not cooperate with police.”

It’s really hard to read about stories in the print media, when they don’t have access to all of the information and yet they report on it as if they do. It’s not in the best interest of any lawyer to litigate a case through the media. In fact, if sensitive information about a case gets out into the public before the case has resolved, it will likely jeopardize and tarnish the outcome of the case entirely.

Assaults, and sexual assault cases often get reported in the media. We hear it all the time, and tend to cast judgment based on the reporting itself, or based on our own predisposed beliefs.

Unfortunately, the reporters and their news outlets often get things wrong.  Or perhaps its the Twitter Trolls or amateur internet commentators in the comment sections who just don’t get it.

It happened to our office and to one of our client’s. In a highly publicized case out of Peterborough, our client was assaulted at Riley’s Pub downtown. The bouncers were so aggressive that they broke our client’s leg/ankle. Our client sought medical assistance from the police.

Instead, the three officers referred to the man as a “pussy,” a “douche,” a “drunk idiot,” told him to “walk it off” and told him to take a cab to the hospital where he was eventually treated for the serious leg injury, investigators found. An independent police review has found “evidence of misconduct” involving two Peterborough-Lakefield police officers and a department sergeant.

The complaint against the officers eventually settled outside of the formal Tribunal.

When this story first broke, members of the community thought it to be a sham, or a charade to catch attention. It couldn’t possibly be true. But it was.

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Toronto, ON M2N 1M9
Phone: (416) 730-1777 Toll Free: (877) 730-1777 Fax: (416) 730-0955
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London, ON N6A 2R5
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Peterborough, ON K9H 3R5
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Owen Sound, ON N4K 2H8
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