Articles Posted in Access to Justice

Being involved in litigation is miserable. It’s true!

Do you think it’s “fun” to be surrounded by lawyers? Is it fun to be compelled to attend at an Examination for Discovery to be grilled by lawyers you’ve never met? Is it “fun” going to Court? Do you consider it a good time having to be examined by a doctor who is hired by an insurance company to defeat your case or to deny your benefits?

Courthouses and court reporters offices are not meant to be “fun”. Litigation is not designed to be “fun” either.

Taking a step back and putting yourself in the shoes of a personal injury client; the litigation process can be quite aggravating and frustrating.

It’s slow.

It’s very time consuming.

It’s expensive.

The laws don’t make sense.

The laws provide more protections to the at fault Defendant than they do to the injured Plaintiff!

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pursue your case. It means that it’s important for a Plaintiff litigant to have the right mindset as their case goes through litigation. Having the wrong frame of mind will cause undue stress, hardship and anxiety. But all of that can be put at ease if you approach your case with the right frame of mind.

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Earlier this week Chief Justice Morawetz gave his address at the traditional “Opening of the Courts” for Ontario.  Calling it the “Opening of the Courts” is likely very confusing for the general public.

To be clear, the Courts were not “closed” before that time. But every year around this time we have a ceremony to “open” them in pomp and circumstance. If you like legal tradition, then this is the place to be! If you weren’t there live (which you likely were not), you can catch the ceremony here as it was publicly posted on YouTube.

The Opening of the Courts presents an opportunity for the Chief Justice to make a state of the union type of address acknowledging how the Courts and the Administration of Justice is performing from an insider’s perspective. It presents the Chief Justice with an opportunity to announce plans or changes moving forward. When the Chief Justice speak, lawyer across Ontario listen very attentively. Here are a few interesting comments from the Chief Justice himself from the Opening of the Courts which caught my attention:

“References to the Queen have now transitioned to the King. Our Registrars now refer to the King when opening and closing court.”

“The current situation (in Ontario Civil Courts) cannot continue. If the timeline between the commencement of a civil matter and the trial is 4 to 5 years, the civil justice system is simply not responding to the litigants.“

“return to in-person hearings, especially for substantive and complex matters, is an integral part of the judicial system and essential to the administration of justice.”

“Meaningful access to justice requires in-person hearings for many self-represented litigants. It is also essential to building the core ingredients of a strong and healthy bar — mentorship and collegiality”

“There is no going back: virtual hearings have become a permanent fixture for court proceedings”

“civil proceedings are an area that is ripe for major change…..(The Court) runs the risk of becoming irrelevant in civil proceedings if action is not taken.”

“The Rules of Civil Procedure were meant to provide us with a roadmap to resolution; but instead, civil proceedings have become bogged down by process. They have become a maze that is difficult for many to navigate. They have become out of step with the purpose they were meant to serve”

In commenting on this, the Chief Justice commented that there out to be a new and more simple path forward. There looks to be a complete re-writing of the Rules of Civil Procedure within 3 years.

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A few weeks ago I was in conversation with a person who asked what I did for a living. I told him that I was a lawyer. He thought that was really cool. When he asked what kind of law I practiced; I told him I was a personal injury lawyer and he looked at me with distain. I wasn’t quite sure why.

Practicing personal injury law is the very essence of civil litigation. At the route of it; personal injury lawyers get innocent accident victims fair compensation for their injuries. We Get People Paid. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. I cannot think of a more noble and pure pursuit when it comes to civil litigation.

Every time I hand someone over their settlement cheque, I am helping to stimulate the economy at a grass route level.

Don’t believe me?

A personal injury lawyer is quite literally re-distributing wealth from large, multi-billion dollar insurance companies; trickling down to injured accident victims; many of whom were struggling to make ends meet before the litigation even got started. The money is going from super rich corporations to regular, everyday individuals. Very Robin Hood-esque!

When my law firm hands someone a settlement cheque; they will spend that cheque in so many different ways. You remember when Oprah handed out gifts (like free cars) on her TV show. You Get a Car! And You Get a Car! And You Get a Car! It’s kinda the same thing!

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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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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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When most people think about lawyers, they think about fancy offices, fancy suits, and very expensive hourly rates. It can all be very intimidating.

When I first started practicing law, I worked in the downtown Toronto core on Bay Street. Bay Street is synonymous with big banks, big finance and the big law firms which represent those large institutions.

What was really odd was that the law firm I used to practice act acted for neither the large banks, or large commercial entities. We acted for seriously injured and disabled people; many of whom did not live in the City of Toronto and if they did rarely ventured into the downtown core. Having our clients come into the office was a chore. They were scared of venturing to downtown Toronto; even if it was to meet with their own personal injury lawyer.

The law firm was accessible on the subway or streetcar, but there was no easily accessible parking which didn’t require a 5+ minute walk through an underground maze (The Path System). And once you got off the TTC, people often got lost. Navagating the elevator bank was also an experience in and of itself. Odd floors servicing certain levels on one side; even floors servicing other levels on another side. If you weren’t there everyday, or weren’t familiar with all of the commotion; it was an intimidating and scary sight.

Keep in mind that the bulk of our law firm’s work at that time was devoted to Plaintiff side personal injury law. Our clients had very real and very visible disabilities (wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, canes, casts) or invisible disabilities (anxiety, depression, suicidal ideations, chronic pain). Things weren’t easy for our clients simply getting to our law firm and that didn’t sit right with me. Seeing your own personal injury lawyer shouldn’t be a chore or an anxiety inducing event.

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