Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog
One of my favourite TV shows is Ted Lasso. It tells the story of an American Football coach, coaching soccer in London England. The team intentionally hires Ted Lasso to fail; so that the club does poorly as a revenge plot against an ex-husband who only wants to see his team win. The hope is that by hiring Ted Lasso, a coach with no soccer experience, that the club will fail miserably. Things take many twists and turns, and it ends up that the everyone who knows Ted Lasso, absolutely loves him and would walk through a wall for him.
In the show there’s a saying: “It’s the Hope that Kills You“. This is a long standing British slogan; particularly heard around soccer whereby expecting a good result causes greater emotional pain vs. having no hope at all which will cause no emotional pain when the result doesn’t happen. It’s better to have no expectations and not get hurt, instead of the other way around.
But that’s no way to live, and it’s no way to succeed. It’s a defeatist attitude, right from the start.
In a personal injury case, our lawyers have found for our client that “It’s the Stress (of the case) that Kills You“). Personal injury litigation weighs heavily on the heads of injured accident victims. For most clients, it’s the FIRST TIME they’ve needed to hire a litigation lawyer and sue another party. Having to sue another party is uncommon for most individuals, who can go through their entire lives without needing a litigation lawyer. Once the case settles, or a Judgment has been rendered, it’s like a weight has been lifted off their chests. The stress and anxiety of the litigation which was ever looming like a dark cloud overhead is now gone and they can live again. They are at at peace, even if the result isn’t everything which they expected.
It’s rare that you meet someone who really enjoys conflict. When I mean conflict, I don’t mean physical violence. I’m referring to shouting, screaming, arguing and deliberate attempts to make another person’s life miserable, or as difficult as possible (again through legal and non violent means). Decent people want to live their lives in peace, happiness and harmony. Sure, there are times where there will be differing views and opinions. But, living in a constant state of conflict isn’t easy. Living through conflict, and having to deal with it isn’t easy either. In fact, it can be very emotionally taxing.
Lawyers get in to the practice of law to problem solve, and to deal with conflict. Lawyers are in a constant state of conflict with opposing counsel. If there weren’t a conflict, there wouldn’t be any need for the lawyers to begin with.
Think of a personal injury case. In a world without conflict, a person who gets seriously injured in an accident would automatically be awarded with all of the benefits and compensation which they so desire.
For a person who applies for long term disability; their benefits would get approved no questions asked and no medical evidence required. The money would rain down from the sky.
But this isn’t how the world works, and this certainly isn’t how modern personal injury cases work in Ontario.
In a personal injury case, the insurance party on the other side of the equation will do some things which make an injured accident victim uncomfortable.
The insurer will send the accident victim to see a doctor or medical professional of their choosing. The purpose of the assessment is not to treat the accident victim or to get the better. Rather, the purpose of the assessment is to critically analyze the nature and validity of their alleged injuries; to determine whether or not the subject injuries are directly related to the claim itself; to determine whether or not treatment recommendations are reasonable and necessary; and overall to critically analyze the validity of the claim itself. When this happens, the Plaintiff is powerless. The Plaintiff must attend the assessment or deal with the consequences. Those consequences can be very severe, from paying a cancellation fee for failing to attend; to having benefits denied for non-compliance; to having their court case dismissed for non-attendance. A Plaintiff gets to pick their treating doctor, and treating health care professionals. But a Plaintiff cannot pick which doctor the Defendant/Insurer wants them to see for the purposes of an Insurance Examination or a Defence Medical Examination. The Insurer/Defendant gets to pick whoever they want, barring no conflicts of interest. Even if there are potential conflicts, it’s still pretty difficult for a Plaintiff to get that expert knocked off the file given the broad powers to pick an expert for an opinion in Court and with accident benefit cases.
Aside from the medical experts, there is also the concern of being followed. You aren’t paranoid if you’re feeling like you’re being followed in the midst of a personal injury case. You’re feeling this way because not only is it a common insurance defence tactic, but the odds of that happening are higher that they would be otherwise if you weren’t involved in a personal injury case. This sort of thing does happen. The insurance company will hire private investigators to creep you out online; and to follow you around in person. They will video tape your movements throughout the course of the day. They will follow you around from the time you leave your home, to the time you get back. They will try to show you moving in ways which you should not be moving; or doing activities which you should not be doing. If you said under oath that you couldn’t work; yet they have video of you working; they will capture it. If you said under oath that you couldn’t lift more than 5 pounds; yet they have video of you carrying large bags of rice to/from your car; they will capture that on tape as well. These are things which are used to discredit your case and damage your credibility so that a Judge/Jury won’t believe your testimony and won’t find you to be a likeable or reliable witness. If that happens, their chances of winning improve dramatically.
