Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog
Personal injury cases have a rhythm. And believe it or not, that rhythm is similar, but not the same, as our four weather seasons.
Summertime: People are away on vacation. For those who are working, those work days don’t seem to be as long as they are in the fall, winter, or spring. People are away from their desks enjoying the sunshine. They’re out on the golf course, enjoying a beverage on a patio, or up at the cottage. Reaching someone in person can be challenging because they tend to be away from their desks, and less responsive to emails.
That all changes come September and back to school. Back to school for the kids means two things:
- The roads are busier with pedestrian, bike and vehicle traffic because the kids are back to school and they need to get to and from school
- Parents are back to work as well. They don’t need to be home supervising the kids while they’re out of school, and now have more time and devoted focus to dedicate to work.
Things really pick up in September. It’s like everyone has awoken from a summertime slowdown. But what does this mean in the practice of a personal injury lawyer?
People who you might not have been able to reach in July or August, now seem to be available in September and October after the kids are back in school. Appearances which were not scheduled for July and August are stacked up for September and October. Our law firm had three mediations this week alone. They weren’t spaced out better because nobody wanted to schedule an appearance (or nobody was available) in the last few weeks of August. People were available in September. That’s no coincidence. This has a big impact on a personal injury case. It means that the decision makers and the lawyers involved in the case are more difficult to reach and to communicate with during the summer months. While you don’t want to think that’s the case, it certainly is. This can slow down the progress or momentum in the case.
In our observations, we also notice that scheduling dates over the summer can be a bit more tricky than scheduling things during the fall, winter or spring months. Either the other lawyer isn’t available; the insurance adjuster isn’t available; or there seem to be fewer Court dates available. This might be due to the decreased availability of Judges, or Court staff during the summertime. This is when people go on vacation and the voids often don’t get filled.
The other big thing we notice at Goldfinger Injury Lawyers is an uptick in cases come September. This is not to suggest that accidents cannot happen at any given time. But, you might think that there are more people on the road for a morning and afternoon commute (which is correct) in September vs. August or July when people might not be commuting because they’re away on vacation. You also have the return to school for students across all age levels so there is more volume on the streets and sidewalks. More volume = less room to operate and more chance of an accident. It also means that more people are in a hurry to get to their destinations. When people are in a hurry, it also increases the chances of an accident happening.
What happens around Christmas Time and the New Year?
Just before Christmas Time, and before the winter holiday season, personal injury cases really get moving when it comes to settlement and resolution. Insurance companies like to clean their slates and close files just before the New Year, so that they can start the New Year fresh and anew. A closed file is a good file. You might call this time of year settlement season. This is not to suggest that every case settles around this time of year. You might just say that insurance companies take a look at their files and determine which files are ripe for settlement, and which ones aren’t. They tend to make more concerted efforts, and are more responsive to getting files closed around this time of year. There is a lot of dialogue between insurers and personal injury lawyers around this time of year. It seems like after a long year, everyone gets on the same page in an effort to get files settled (or back on track if they’ve fallen off the rails).
And then Christmas hits. Offices shut down for the holidays. And everything seems to run very quiet between Christmas and the New Year. There are some lawyers and insurance adjusters who are working, but their hours likely aren’t regular during this lull in the season. Once the statutory holiday after New Years is over, everything is busy again, taking off right just like no time had passed. People have returned to the office and files are moving along in the right way.
By putting out this edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog, it’s not to suggest that a file will, or won’t settle at a certain point of time in any given season. Files settle when they settle; and neither you, nor your personal injury lawyer will have much control over how or when these settlements will play out. There’s no scenario where you or your personal injury lawyer can wake up and snap your fingers and a case will settle for the amount which you demand. That’s fantasy and not reality. In saying this, it’s always important to keep in perspective that there are real people behind each personal injury file. Those real people have lives, celebrate holidays, and take time off which can impact the pace and speed of a file moving along. Keeping this perspective, and understanding a bit more about what goes on behind the scenes can better manage expectations from the start of the case, up until the case closes. As the case moves forward, it’s important to have a good attitude and along with a good mindset to control the things which are within your control; and not to sweat the things which are completely outside of your control.
