Articles Posted in Legal News

As tough as it is for most people to navigate the challenges associated with the current pandemic, it’s even more challenging for those dealing with injuries as the result of an accident, says Toronto personal injury lawyer Brian Goldfinger.

After someone has been injured, they are often assessed by an occupational therapist to see if any modifications need to be made to their living space to accommodate their new situation, he says. They also might be receiving treatment by a physiotherapist, chiropractor or massage therapist. None of that is happening right now.

“These people are certainly feeling the impact. They’re at home getting no treatment or care, and it’s not helping their physical health or mental wellness. It’s putting them at grave risk to be alone when they need some form of attendant care or supervision,” Goldfinger says.

Many lawyers boast about being virtual, paper free and 100% remote. This is fantastic and something which we should all strive for given the current climate brought on by the COVID19 global pandemic. If COVID19 has done anything for the legal profession, it’s opened the legal community’s eyes that we as a profession are desperately behind the times when it comes to incorporating technology in to the general practice of law.

I place the majority of the blame on our inept Court system along with our archaic filing practices. Lawyers CANNOT file a majority of materials with the Court electronically. Process servers for in person Court filings are required, otherwise you will face the wrath of rejected materials. Courts have never wanted to hold teleconferences for mundane consent or unopposed matters. Courts still require personal attendances at the expense of everyone’s time, money and resources. I hope that all of this will change when we reach the light at the end of the COVID19 tunnel.

I can go on and on about inefficiencies of our Courts and legal practices along with how we can all improve with technology; but this is a topic for another day.

The purpose of this week’s instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog is to focus on the daily activities of a personal injury law practice which have been impacted by COVID19. For today we will let you in behind the curtain of Goldfinger Injury Lawyers to understand what goes on behind the scenes to keep our law firm running in a time of crisis.

The lawyers who I recognize boasting online that their practices are 100% remote are mostly those lawyers who earn a salaried wage. They are not business owners. They are in large part removed from the day to day, nitty gritty which go hand in hand with operating, managing and running a law firm. Such lawyers are employees or contractors of a legal operation of some sort. Think of in house lawyers, associates or even partners of a larger law firm.

Some may be “partners“. But the term “partner” can often be misleading. There are equity partners vs. non equity partners. Equity partners have skin in the game. Non equity partners can exist for name recognition only, and don’t have any skin in the game compared to their equity partner counterparts. A non equity partner can walk away from a sinking ship without any real consequence. At the same time, even equity partners can find a way to buy out, walk away or totally collapse the firm if things aren’t going well without significant personal loss. See Goodman & Carr or Heenan Blaikie

An owner of a law firm is responsible for paying rent, office supplies, making payroll, paying for professional membership dues, operational overhead, marketing overhead etc. These are great responsibilities which feed family and fuel many different industries (legal, office supply, marketing, telecom, tech, furniture, security, cleaning and the list goes on).

Continue reading →

This installment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog is intended to focus specifically on the impact which COVID-19 will have on your personal injury case.

Right now we recognize that there are much more pressing life issues out there given increased health risks and lifestyle changes which COVID-19 has brought. These larger life, political, economic and health/safety issues are certainly larger than a personal injury case.

We are personal injury lawyers.

We do not profess to give an cogent or meaningful advice about health policy, social policy, geo-political policy etc.

If you want that sort of information or misinformation; there’s certainly no shortage of it out there.

We are going to stick to our lane and comment about what we know best; personal injury law.

Before we get in to it, we would like to let you in behind the curtain on what Goldfinger Injury Lawyers is doing to flatten the curve. All of our personal injury lawyers are working remotely from home. All in person meetings with clients, adjusters and other lawyers etc. have been cancelled. These meetings have either been rescheduled, or they will take place via teleconference or video conference.  Examinations for Discovery have been re-scheduled. We aren’t yet sure what’s happening with upcoming mediations. These tend to work best in person, but during these times we are taking it day by day and will have to consult with all parties in order to determine the best course of action. This may require re-scheduling the mediation, or the mediations taking place by teleconference or video conference. We remain responsive to voice messages and emails as always.

Many of our clients are concerned for a variety of reasons. But they are calling us for answers about their respective cases and how COVID-19 has and will impact their case.

Here’s how:

Continue reading →

Recently, Goldfinger Injury Lawyers was nominated for “Top Boutiques for Personal Injury” by Canadian Lawyer Magazine for 2019. The post from Canadian Lawyer Magazine indicates “we’re looking for your input on the best firms specializing in personal injury law”.

This is a huge honour for my law firm, which I began 10 years ago with just one person. Since that time we have expanded both in personnel and in breadth.

If you haven’t voted, please do. Here’s the link .Your vote for our law firm would be a very big deal; and here’s why::

If you have been following Goldfinger Injury Lawyers in the news, the irony of this nomination does not escape us. Our advertising saga with the Law Society of Ontario has been well publicized in the Toronto Star and other media sources. We have appeared on the front page of the Toronto Star 3 times(both published and digital). When Tom Brady won Superbowl LI on February 5, 2017, my picture and story was right under Tom Brady’s where he was raising the Vince Lombardi Championship Trophy.

Why the media picked up on the story is a source of another debate. The demonization of the personal injury lawyer? Everyone loves to hate on lawyers? A debate about the Law Society regulating its own? A debate on lawyer advertising? People hate lawyer advertising? Or people just hate lawyers and hate sells newspapers….

The complaint against my law firm was leaked to the Toronto Star before we even had a chance to respond to the allegations, when the complaint was in the very early confidential investigatory stages. All of the complainant law firms deny leaking the story to the Toronto Star. Maybe it was someone on the inside at the Law Society who wanted my story to get out. The Law Society denies the leak as well.

It’s also important to note that the complaint against my firm was not brought by a member of the general public, a former client, or a prospective client. It was brought by seven competitor law firms in London Ontario. These seven competitor law firms are all much larger than my law firm. Instead of reaching out to my law firm and telling me that they didn’t like my advertising, they went straight to Law Society. Talk about camaraderie and respect for your peers. The Law Society never reached out to my law firm either. They went straight to a formal discipline proceeding never affording my law firm an opportunity to rectify any wrongs. No invitation to correct any wrongs was ever extended. The wrongs against my law firm can be seen on virtually every lawyer or paralegal website in the business, but I don’t make it my place to issue a formal complaint against my peers for advertising issues. If I have a problem with someone’s marketing or a message that I truly find offensive, I’ll just give that person a call and let them know.  In my experience, a little bit of dialogue can go a long way towards getting problems solved. This is what we’re taught as lawyers.

What could have been dealt with by way of simple phone call or email has been a part of my life for well over 2 years, with no end in sight. The Law Society has spent countless hours and dollars litigating my case. Four Pre-Hearing Conferences; One Hearing; One Appeal; One Motion; with written submissions to come. They hired an investigator to attend at my meeting locations in Peterborough, Kitchener and London to look around. A total of 9 different Benchers have now heard my case, with likely more to come.

Continue reading →

Being a Plaintiff who is not familiar with the civil justice system is very frustrating.

For starters, you’ve needed to retain a lawyer and sue in Court to get the results you need. Because you’ve commenced a legal action, then we can presume that you’ve exhausted every other recourse and Court is your last option. It would have been far easier and less expensive to keep the lawyers out of your dispute and work things out between the parties. The nice thing about working things out without lawyers and without the Court is that you get to control the process and you don’t have to jump through the hoops which the Court sets down. These hoops can an tricky for lawyers and for self represented litigants alike. All of these points are blown out the door if you can’t find a lawyer to take on your case. In that situation, you’re on your own; left alone to navigate the legal system on your own. The great abyss lies ahead. You can expect countless hours in your local library in the future, along with many sleepless nights.

One of the most frustrating things for the clients at Goldfinger Injury Lawyers is coming to the realization that the legal process isn’t anywhere near as fast as we see on TV.

Continue reading →