We made it. Post # 500!!!!
It’s one thing to prepare posts of few words. But we’ve been pretty consistent here at the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog. Each post has on average 1,000 words.
So 500,000 words later, do we have any greater insight than when we first began? Do we have any new words of wisdom for those trying to prepare a successful legal blog?
One of the most depressing things about living through COVID is that we don’t know when it’s going to end (if ever). The number one question which my clients, staff and lawyers want to know is when and how or even will we ever get back to our normal lives?
I can’t answer that question. None of the experts can.
It’s that uncertainty which drives us all mad on the inside, despite putting our best foot forward; along with our best face for the social media hives to which we belong.
I exchange many pleasantries over the phone with fellow lawyers, insurance adjusters, clients and prospective clients. We are accustomed to saying standard, pre-programmed responses during these exchanges part out of common courtesy, part out of custom.
These exchanges go something like this:
Lawyer: Hello. Its (insert name of personal injury lawyer here) calling from (insert name of personal injury law firm here). How are you?
Insurance Adjuster: I’m doing well. How are you?
Lawyer: I’m fine thanks for asking. I’m calling you about the (insert name of personal injury client here) file…..
And thus the conversation flows regarding the specifics of the case.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on the way lawyers serve their clients, with many opting for remote meetings through phone calls and videoconferencing rather than in-person, says Toronto personal injury lawyer Brian Goldfinger.
In Ontario, across the country and around the world, governments have declared states of emergency, advocating that people work from home where possible and practice social distancing to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“We’re not conducting any in-person meetings,” Goldfinger says. “We’re doing as much as we can over the phone and on email. We have cancelled all meetings that required an appearance, including examinations for discovery and mediations, if we can’t do them over the phone or using videoconferencing. We don’t want to put anyone at risk.”
After a serious accident or collision, the injured party will require treatment.
Sometimes the treatment is covered by OHIP. Seeing your family doctor, getting surgery, assistance through LHIN, seeing a specialist, publicly funded physiotherapy; these are all examples of treatment which is covered under the OHIP system. That means that regardless of who was at fault for the accident, that you don’t need to pay for the treatment. This type of treatment is of particular important for all manners of accident and injury cases. If you hold a valid Health Card, there is no excuse for not at the very least, seeing your doctor. It’s free.
Sometimes treatment is NOT covered under the publicly funded OHIP system. Seeing a psychologist, a physiotherapist, occupational therapist, chiropractor, speech language pathologist, massage therapist; these are examples of treatment which is NOT commonly covered by OHIP.
To get these forms of treatment which are not covered, accident victims have a few options to access treatment.
Part of Brian Goldfinger’s focus in 2019 for his law firm, Goldfinger Injury Lawyers will be helping to educate consumers on Long Term Disability claims and getting the benefits you deserve.
It all starts with knowing your rights and knowing how your policy of insurance works.
Lots of employees know they have benefits. Detailing what those benefits are is the next step. Understanding whether or not you have private long term disability coverage, and if so, how that coverage works is best when putting your mind to long term disability claims in Ontario.
Recently, Brian Goldfinger did an interview for Advocate Daily entitled “Consumers’ Guide to Long Term Disability Insurance“. You can find the article here.
This is the first in a multi part series which Brian Goldfinger is doing with Advocate Daily to raise awareness as it relates to Long Term Disability cases in Ontario. What Brian Goldfinger has found is that many employees/consumers don’t even know that they may have access to long term disability benefits, let alone how those benefits are activated and acquired.
Brian Goldfinger knows that picking a good personal injury lawyer isn’t easy. There are certainly a lot of options out there. How do you know who to trust? How will you know which personal injury lawyer will be right for your specific case. Does the personal injury lawyer have the requisite skill, understanding, empathy, experience and legal savvy to maximize your compensation and optimize your result?
For most people, picking a personal injury lawyer is the first time seeking out a lawyer for a litigation matter. Many people have retained lawyers for non contentious issues requiring a lawyer. These examples include common solicitor issues like buying/selling or leasing a property; drafting articles of incorporation, drafting a will, or dealing with estate issues.
Other common areas of law where people need to, or have retained a lawyer including family law cases (divorce), or criminal matters.
It’s not everyday where people need to retain a personal injury lawyer to commence civil litigation. This is why finding the right lawyer for you can seem like a difficult process.
With this instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post, Brian Goldfinger will share his thoughts on what you should look for when retaining a personal injury lawyer.
Many people ask Brian Goldfinger what it takes to build a successful personal injury case. Is it having the best personal injury lawyer? (not that any personal injury lawyer can ever say that s/he is the best because that’s against the law). Is it having the best client? Is it having the best back end data retrieval software? Is it having the best rehab team working on your case? Is it having the best looking business cards to intimidate the insurance company into submission? Is it having the best doctors treat you? Is it having your personal injury lawyer commission the best medico-legal reports from the best experts?
The truth is that building the best personal injury case is much like building the best home. There is no such thing as the best home. There are great, well built homes. But everyone’s opinion of what the best home is; is entirely subjective. The best home is the place which you lay your head to rest and call home. Some homes are fancier than others. Some homes can do with more. But we all get by with what we’ve got and we make the most of our situation.
A successful personal injury case is much like a well built home. A well built home requires a lot of advance planning, practical and sometimes unique design, quality materials, experienced and skilled labour.
A personal injury case requires a lot of advance planning, practical and sometimes unique design for the case; quality materials in the form of records/reports, along with experienced and skilled lawyers to optimize a superior result on behalf of the client.
It’s that time of year again. Halloween! I loved Halloween as a kid, and still do! The idea of going door to door and getting free candy still astonishes me. It can bring a community/neighbourhood closer together.
Each year I put out a blog post regarding Halloween safety tips, and this year is no exception. The only caveat is that I’m getting out this installment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog out a bit later than I would have liked; but emergencies have a tendency of popping up and ruining well intentioned plans.
One of the common threads of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog around this time, is that my law firm sees a spike in calls post Halloween related to pedestrian/car accidents (essentially trick or treating accidents).
I had no scientific data to back up my claims other than the internal call tallies we keep at my law firm regarding the nature and circumstances of the calls coming in year after year around this time.
But UBC issued a proper scientific road study finding a 43 per cent higher risk of pedestrian deaths on Halloween night than on other nights near that date. Kids aged 4 to 8 faced the highest risks in the new study: There were 55 Halloween deaths in this age range compared with just 11 on control days. Deaths peaked near dusk, around 6 p.m.
The study was based on four decades of U.S. traffic data, including 608 pedestrian deaths on 42 Halloweens. I found this study in the Owen Sound Sun Times through the Associated Press. A link to the Owen Sound Sun Times article can be found here. More on Owen Sound a bit later, but very quickly, thanks for all of the calls coming in from Owen Sound and Bruce-Grey County. We are enthusiastic to enter the market and look forward to serving the community as best we can.
Recently, our very own Brian Goldfinger made a special guest appearance on the Raptors Republic Podcast. You may know that Goldfinger Injury Lawyers is a sponsor of Raptors Republic, and Brian Goldfinger is a big fan of all of their hard work.
You can check out Brian Goldfinger’s appearance on the Raptors Republic Podcast here:
https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2018/09/25/raptors-weekly-extra-podcast-the-chronicles-of-uros-slokar/
This instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog is not your typical personal injury piece. Reason being, this has not been your typical week in the world of the law and politics in Ontario. As detailed below, this has been a historic week.
Earlier today, Doug Ford and his Conservative majority government enacted section 33 of the Charter, commonly referred to as the Notwithstanding Clause in order to uphold The Better Local Government Act.
The Better Local Government Act was passed by Premier Ford’s majority government to reduce the number of seats in the ongoing Toronto Municipal election from 47 seats, down to 25.
The Honourable Justice Belobaba ruled that Premier Ford’s Better Local Government Act was unconstitutional as it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Premier Ford recalled legislature today and passed a resolution declaring that The Better Local Government Act would apply “notwithstanding” the Charter.
Essentially, Premier Ford used his supreme constitutional power to overrule the decision of a Judge to pass the legislation which the Judge had deemed to be unconstitutional.
Constitutional lawyers across Canada and legal academics rejoice. They haven’t seen so much CORAF action since the 1980’s.
Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog