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This is an example of how governments with the best intentions can still screw things up.

It’s quite noble for the federal government to want to help people with disabilities make ends meet. Get people with disabilities more money in their pockets so that they can pay their bills, live independently, and with dignity.

So, the Federal Government unanimously passed Bill C-22 “An Act to reduce poverty and to support the financial security of persons with disabilities by establishing the Canada disability benefit and making a consequential amendment to the Income Tax Act”. Yes, that is the full legal name of the Bill because legislators and lawyers tend to get oh so creative and descriptive when naming a new Bill!

The Bill does not go into specifics about how much people would receive. Nor does it go into specifics about how you would qualify for the benefit.

But it does detail that if you qualify for assistance, you would receive money in the form of a disability benefit.

People should know that receiving money, from any source has consequences. There are never “no strings attached”; especially when receiving money from the Government.

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People get really confused about what to do when they sustain an injury in the workplace.

The first reaction for a person who gets injured while on the job is that they want to sue their employer, and everyone else under the sun for what happened to them.

This is a normal reaction and a normal train of thought. It would only seem logical and oh so simple that the injured worker sue his/her employer and anyone else responsible for their work related injuries.

Unfortunately, personal injury law in Ontario is far from logical and far from simple.

You see, because the injury took place in course or work, the employee must take a long hard look at whether or not s/he has to go through WSIB.

But what does going through WSIB have to do with suing for a personal injury case?

WSIB has everything to do with suing for a personal injury case; and here’s why.

You cannot both sue for your personal injuries, and claim WSIB benefits.

Well; if an injured worker cannot sue, and cannot claim WSIB benefits; then why can’t the injured worker just choose one path?

Because the law, in most cases; does NOT allow the injured party to chose. In the vast majority of cases; the injured worker MUST go through WSIB and cannot sue at all! Even if the employer was insanely negligent. I’m talking like sweat shop like labour conditions with zero protective gear and malfunctioning equipment which has been neglected for decades; the injured worker still CANNOT sue their employer if they are covered by WSIB.

If an injured worker tries to sue instead of having claimed WSIB benefits, their case will be kicked out of Court.

If an injured worker sues having not liked the amount of WSIB benefits they received; or having received not enough in WSIB benefits; their case will be kicked out of Court.

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Last night, like millions of others, I sat down to watch the Superbowl with my family. We had our traditional Superbowl Party, with all the fun food, snacks and beverages you might expect. We were all excited for the game, for the commercials and of course; for Rhianna’s return to the public eye for the Halftime show. And Rhianna did not disappoint.

The game had it’s fair share of controversial, or questionable calls.

There was a play in the first half, when the Eagles Tight End caught a pass heading out of bounds. He bobbled the pass, but still got both feet in bounds. Was it a catch? Was it not a catch because he bobbled the ball? I could have sworn it was not a catch because the bobble was clear as day. Yet, the referees ruled it a catch.

In the second half, the Eagles receiver caught the ball, got tackled after taking a step or two, fumbled the ball and it was returned for a touchdown. The ruling on the field called it a touchdown. Upon review, the call was overturned. The referees ruled that despite catching the ball, the receiving did not make a clear football move, and therefore, it was not ruled a catch or a fumble. The call was overturned and the points were taken off the board. It was baffled to say the least.

The final odd call was the holding penalty which ultimately decided the game. The Eagles defensive player made contact with the Chiefs receiver in what looked to be a normal football play. The referees called it a hold, the balls was advanced; and we all know what happened from there. The Chiefs kicked the game winning field goal with seconds left on the play clock. And there you have it, the Superbowl champs were decided.

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February is traditionally a bitter cold month in Ontario. When I say bitter cold, I mean bitter cold. It’s on record as the second coldest month of the year, trailing only January by around a degree or so. February is dark, windy, cold, icy and snowy. It’s known to be depressing, grey and overall, a very blah month. I think everyone is glad that February is the shortest month, because the February weather in Ontario is not all that pleasant.

So, when we see weather above the freezing mark, getting up to 6 or 7 degrees; with sunshine, all we can do is smile! It’s like it’s springtime in February. Getting up to 6 or 7 degrees in February would be a record for warmest dates recorded.

But with the warm weather at such a early time, and so quick after a month or two of steady below zero temperatures, we need to be careful. The snow and ice is melting. This impacts the streets on which we drive, the walkways where we walk, the water levels of our rivers and streams, and those not so frozen lakes where we may be accustomed to ice fish or snowmobile around this time of year.

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It’s rather chilly in Ontario, with temperatures getting around the negative double digits.

When it gets this cold, ice forms and hardens significantly, making for difficult walking conditions on both public sidewalks, and private driveways and walkways.

Despite the poor walking conditions, there are still some daredevils out there who defy the cold temperatures and dare to wear sandals, flip flops, crocs or other footwear not associated with winter conditions.

So, what happens after a slip and fall case in Ontario? How are these cases started and built up by personal injury lawyers in order to get their clients the compensation which they deserve.

Cases are built upon facts and evidence.0008r_Goldfinger-200x300

This of these as the primary ingredients to a successful lawsuit. Without evidence, the case is going nowhere fast. You personal injury lawyer cannot simply conjure up evidence out of nowhere. And neither can you. Evidence in favour of your case either exists, or it does not. Some evidence is easy to gather. Other forms of evidence are not, and may need some form of higher power (like a Judge’s Order) to compel production.

Here’s an example of evidence which is easy for your personal injury lawyer to gather and to produce. Things like:

  • Clinical Notes and Records from the Hospital you attended after your slip and fall accident
  • Clinical Notes and Records from your Family Doctor or Nurse Practitioner, or the Walk In Clinic you attended after your slip and fall accident
  • Clinical Notes and Records from your Physiotherapist, Massage Therapist, Chiropractor or Occupational Therapist who you saw after your slip and fall accident
  • Pre-Accident and Post Accident tax returns which establish your base line pre-accident income, to show that you sustained a loss of income as a result of your slip and fall accident
  • Your Pre-Accident and Post Accident decoded OHIP Summary showing the doctor(s) you saw; and the frequency you saw those doctors before your slip and fall accident vs. the doctor(s) you saw, and the frequency you saw those doctors post slip and fall accident
  • Your employment file
  • Your ODSP File
  • Your CPP File
  • Your short term and/or long term disability benefits file
  • Your collateral benefits file
  • Your LHIN file
  • Photographs of your injuries, along with the ice patch which caused your fall (if you took any such photos and preserved them)
  • The ambulance call report, or the records from the police or fire department if they came to the scene of the accident to assist
  • Weather records for the days prior to your fall, the date of loss, and the days post slip and fall accident

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The home office of Goldfinger Injury Lawyers is in North York, near the busy Yonge and Sheppard intersection; a short distance from the 401, with TTC subway access to both the Yonge Line and to the Sheppard Line. It’s a busy area with lots of shops, restaurants, condos, traffic and construction. Finding a parking spot in the area can be tricky because it’s such a busy area.

We are fortunate to have reserved parking at the front and rear of our office. The spaces are reserved for our clients, employees and guests to our law firm.

All vehicles which park on site need to be registered. If they aren’t registered, they will get ticketed or towed.

Safety for our staff is very important. We don’t want any wrongdoers on site up to no good. In the past, we’ve had a few odd characters hanging out or lurking out back. When asked to leave, they did without issue.

But when there are problems, we have to call in for private security, for Toronto Parking Enforcement, or as a last resort, the police.

The purpose of this edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog post is to share with you what can happen when things get creepy on a private parking lot; and to share with you how even those who are required to uphold to law can fail (which shouldn’t happen, but it does). Our story isn’t a big deal. Nobody was hurt and no damage was done. But when the people who are there to enforce rules/laws and are incorrect in their understanding of the rules; chaos ensues.

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Distracted driving kills, just like drunk driving kills.

Driving requires concentration and focus. Today’s cars and our mobile technology try to shift our driving focus away from the road, and on to some type of screen. Lots of beeps, lights and vibrations to get us looking anywhere but on the road.

What would it be like to go back in time, and drive in an era before cell phones, touch screens in cars and Android Auto or Apple Car Play? Let’s take a look!

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People get injured in all sort of ways.

Right now, as you are reading this instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog; you probably aren’t thinking that something bad is going to happen to you or a loved one. That’s normal. And that’s why when these sort of terrible or catastrophic events happen; they are called accidents; because they are out of the blue, and unexpected.

When the injuries are catastrophic in nature, having your lawyer establish the nature and severity of those injuries might be the easiest part of the case. A Defendant would look rather foolish attempting to suggest that catastrophic injuries (paraplegia, quadriplegia, or a traumatic brain injury) aren’t very serious, life changing injuries which should be discarded are minor and of no significant consequence.

What can be more challenging for a Plaintiff and his her personal injury lawyer is finding the insurance to pay out for the lawsuit.

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My law firm Goldfinger Injury Lawyers has successfully handled countless slip and fall cases. We have recovered our clients millions of dollars getting them the compensation which they deserve after they’ve been seriously injured as a result of a slip and fall caused by the negligence of a property owner. Please note that past results are not indicative of future results.

People are curious as to where these slip and fall case take place. I’m sure we’ve all seen someone wipe out or fall to the ground. But does this mean that the person will have a successful case? Does this mean that someone will reach out to a personal injury lawyer in order to claim compensation for their injuries, damages, or losses?

This is Brian Goldfinger’s comprehensive list of the top 5 most common places our lawyers see slip and fall cases take place. We are releasing our top 5 list now in the winter time, because this is the time of year where we see the most slip and fall cases happen.

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More often than would think, insurance companies seek to add terms to a Full and Final Release which they would not otherwise be able to get in Court.

A Full and Final Release is a legal document which gets signed when a case gets settled outside of Court.

This is standard. Anyone who settles their case outside of Court in a personal injury or long term disability action will be asked by a Defendant to sign such a Release.

Generally, the Release will contain provisions detailing the amount of the settlement, terms that the settlement is final and binding on both parties, that the Defendant is prepared to pay the settlement amount, but does not admit liability, that the Plaintiff cannot sue again over this specific cause of action and that should s/he do so, that the Release will be relied upon to dismiss the case with costs; and that the terms of the settlement are confidential, but can be disclosed to lawyers, accountants and financial planners.

These terms are expected to be contained in a Release by plaintiff side personal injury lawyers. But sometimes (more often than you would expect) sophisticated insurers and their insureds try to get terms into the Release which fall well outside of the scope of the litigation. The Defendant is trying to get through the backdoor, what they cannot get through the front door.

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Past results are not indicative of future results.

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