COVID-19 Update: How We Are Serving and Protecting Our Clients

Published on:

By

When I was a young personal injury lawyer, an odd case appeared on my desk.

The Plaintiff was an older automobile executive, who broke 3 vertebrae, torn his rotator cuff and fractured his skull in a car accident.

The injuries were quite significant. They prevented the client from returning to work, or engaging in his usual personal care and recreational activities. His life would be forever changed as a result of the car accident.

What was odd was that the car accident was a single car accident. The client was a passenger in the vehicle. The driver had lost control, drove the car off the shoulder of the road, and flipped the vehicle into a ditch along a deserted country road. I imagine that the car accident could have been even more serious had there been more vehicles involved.

So, in that case, the passenger would sue the driver for having lost control and flipped over the vehicle.

In this case, the driver was the client’s own daughter.

Isn’t that strange. A father, needing to sue his own daughter for his personal injuries arising from a car accident. It’s not like the daughter intentionally tried to flip over the vehicle. It was, by all accounts; an accident.

But how does that work, and what are the ramifications of a father, having to sue his own child for damages in a personal injury case? Can the daughter go to jail? Will her credit rating be ruined forever? Does she need to hire a personal injury lawyer to defend her claim? Will she need to go to trial and square off against her own father in open Court? Will this father/daughter personal injury case get really nasty such that Dad will take away Daughter’s TV and cell phone privileges?

Continue reading →

Published on:

By

One of my biggest predictions coming out of COVID Lockdowns and the COVID Pandemic would be the rise of assaults.

After many months of being locked down and shut out of social interaction, people forgot how to be kind to one another. We forgot how to share public spaces. We forgot how to be patient, and polite to strangers. We had a lot of built up anger, angst, along with all sorts of other emotions (both positive and negative) after being locked down for so long. We were no longer able to behave like public places were our own living rooms. They were public spaces meant to be shared. Over the Pandemic, we forgot how to share these public spaces, and began to act in such a way which showed a lesser regard for our peers.

This problem is compounded by the increases in mental illness we have seen during the course of the Pandemic. Lack of access to medical care, having people locked down, increased unemployment with increased costs of living, increased interest rates…It’s all not good for one’s mental health.

Regretfully, the prediction that common assaults (or random acts of violence in public) would increase was correct. Just use the TTC as your benchmark. Since the Pandemic lockdowns ended, and we have done our best to return to a sense of normalcy, random acts of violence on the TTC have increased dramatically. A young boy was stabbed and murdered for no apparent reason. He was simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Continue reading →

Published on:

By

Sexual assault cases are tricky.

Not because the sexual assault itself didn’t happen.

Not because the Plaintiff hasn’t been very seriously hurt and seriously impacted by the sexual assault.

Sexual assault cases are tricky because they can take so much out of the Plaintiff him/herself.

For starters, it’s really hard to step forward, and to take that first step in reporting the sexual assault. That takes serious strength and courage to do. Many victims of sexual assault don’t step forward at all. Or if they do, it takes years and years for them to gather the strength and courage to do so. It’s hard to put yourself out there, and be vulnerable.

That’s why when someone takes the brave step of reaching out and calling our law firm to report and wanting to pursue a sexual assault case, we know that this decision was not made lightly. It may have taken hours, days or perhaps years for that person to make the call to one of our lawyers. Continue reading →

Published on:

By

The entire field of personal injury law is rather effective at making sure that accident victims aren’t unjustly enriched by the benefits or moneys which they receive in their case.

Cases have been fought all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada to make sure that innocent accident victims aren’t getting their cake, and eating it too.

Insurance companies will fight tooth and nail to make sure that Plaintiffs don’t double dip.

It can be hard for innocent accident victims to understand that laws against double dipping exist. Many think that legal remedies are an all you can eat buffet. Unfortunately for Plaintiffs, they are not.

The laws surrounding remedies, damages and set offs exist because at law, an accident victim is not allowed to be put in a better position post accident, than they were pre-accident. The laws surrounding compensation exist to make a person whole again; and not to put them in a better position than they were pre-accident.

The accident should not be seen as a monetary windfall for the Plaintiff. It should be seen as a means to an end to make them whole for their past losses, and those losses moving forward.

Certainly, an insurer will have a more conservative valuation of what those losses are. While a Plaintiff will have a more aggressive valuation. Where that number lies is often somewhere in the middle. But, it’s important to state that a Plaintiff can only be awarded what’s recoverable at law.

Many clients want to see the Defendant suffer. They want to see the Defendant go to jail, or become their butler until the end of time as compensation for their damages. Plaintiffs want to own the Defendant’s home, all of their prized possessions, and receive a public apology in four national newspapers. The law just doesn’t work this way. A Judge cannot sent a Defendant to jail in a civil personal injury case. The only thing that the Judge can do is order the Defendant pay the Plaintiff compensation within the framework of the law.

Continue reading →

Published on:

By

When I first started the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog, I often ended each entry with a short blurb about my favourite sports team; the Toronto Raptors.

I’ve been a Toronto Raptors fan since Day 1. I was an NBA basketball fan long before the Raptors came to Toronto, so convincing me to root for the Raptors was an easy sell.

I remember the nay sayers when we drafted Damon Stoudamire as the franchise’s first ever draft pick. The rise, and fall of Vince Carter (along with his graduation ceremony on the same day as a Game #7 playoff game vs. Allen Iverson). I remember the promise of so many failed draft picks and free agent signings: Michael Bradley, Yogi Stewart, Rafael Aruajo, Aleksandar Radojević, Rasul Butler, Hedo Turkoglu, and my all time favourite: Uros Slokar.

I was there for what I believe was the most poorly attended game in Raptor history: vs. the Charlotte Bobcats back when the Bobcats wore those ugly orange uniforms on a Tuesday night of a heavy snowstorm. I think Gerald Henderson went off that night.

I was there when Joey Graham was promised to be the “next great guy” because he had a remarkable NBA physique. Those “next great guys” came and went. From Jamario Moon to Sonny Weems, to the Slovenian Gangster Primoz Brezec, just to name a few. Continue reading →

Published on:

By

One of my young personal injury lawyers and I had a chat following an Examination for Discovery. He was quite surprised by the tone which the lawyers for the insurance company took with our client. The lawyers were mean, nasty, rude, snarky and did not give our client the benefit of the doubt.

Would that lawyer speak in that rude of a tone to a stranger? Nope.

Would that lawyer speak that way in a regular world setting outside of the law? Nope.

If that lawyer spoke that way in his/her everyday life, would they have any friends? Nope.

So it begs the question: why are lawyers so stern and mean, particularly during the discovery process?

There are many answers to this question.

Continue reading →

Published on:

By

The purpose of this instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog is not about settling a personal injury case fast.

Rather, it’s about what money can be claimed, and recovered relatively quickly, after an innocent accident victim cannot return to work and earn an income after a serious accident.

Getting paid benefits quickly to supplement one’s lost income, because one cannot work after a serious accident is a very common concern for clients. Legitimately so. A Plaintiff goes from earning a gainful income one day; to being disabled and unable to do so the next.  The bill collectors don’t care that you’ve been involved in a serious accident. All that they care about is that their bills get paid.

It’s our hope that this instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog gives you some insight on sources to claim benefits in order to make ends meet.

Before we examine those sources, here are a few practical tips to claiming benefits:

Continue reading →

Published on:

By

Recently, Goldfinger Injury Lawyers received 2 very positive reviews from clients who we served.

Client #1: 5 Stars 100% I would recommend them! After contacting 7 different law firms in London, regarding my very complex injury, Brian accepted the challenge and took on my case! He was very easy to work with and always quick to respond! He got me the very best settlement he could have, and I am very grateful for his help. He was always very professional and explained everything in detail so that I would understand. I will definitely use him again if I ever require an injury lawyer!

Client #2 : 5 Stars From the first phone call to the settlement day both Brian and Natalia were always there for me to answer all my questions, to up date me on how the malfunction case is going and explained how everything is with cases like mine is going to be done. From September ‘22 is when Brian took my case to March 20th ‘23 when he send me the settlement documents, he worked fast and got me settlement amount that I’m very happy with! If you want to be part of a winning team at Goldfinger Injury Lawyers please don’t waste your time looking for another law firm, at Goldfinger Injury Lawyers they will get the job done the right way without wasting any of your time. Good lawyers, good caring people and very kind lawyer Mr. Goldfinger is! Thank you for everything you done for me!

Continue reading →

Published on:

By

Nobody wants to be in an accident.

Nobody wants to slip and fall and get injured.

But if you are going to slip and fall, and get injured; believe it or not, there are some better places to slip and fall vs. some worse places to slip and fall.

And where a Plaintiff slipped and fell can spell the difference between a simple case vs. a complex case; or an easier case to advance vs. a more difficult case to advance.

A Plaintiff has no control over when, where and how they fall. But the location of the fall is more often than not the difference between cases which can be resolved quickly and quietly outside of Court vs. slip and fall cases which get tied up in years before the Courts which are more difficult and complicated.

Continue reading →

Published on:

By

Finding a personal injury lawyer who is knowledgeable, kind, sympathetic, and who will fight hard for you is important.

A good personal injury lawyer will listen, and give you advice to hopefully put you in a better position to move forward.

But, a personal injury lawyer doesn’t live with you.

A personal injury lawyer isn’t there when you go and see the doctor, to tell him/her what’s wrong with you. Nor can a personal injury lawyer force you to see your doctor. Nor can a personal injury lawyer call in a prescription medication on your behalf, attend at the pharmacy to pick it up, and force you to take said medication.

Everyday everyone makes decisions. Some decisions are complicated legal decisions. But other decisions are daily care and everyday decisions which cannot be delegated to another person unless you are a minor or a person who the Court has deemed to be under a disability.

Some decisions are helpful for a personal injury case like making the decision to take your prescription medication, as directed by your doctor; attending at medical appointments and therapy appointments.

Other decisions are hurtful to a personal injury case like not taking your prescription medication, as directed; and skipping out of medical or treatment appointments. Other bad decisions for a personal injury case may include doing things that your doctor said you should not be doing (like bungee jumping after a serious accident, taking a long flight or going on a long vacation without asking your doctor if that’s a wise thing to do).

Continue reading →

OTLA American Association for Justice Lexpert Ranked Lawyer
Contact Information
Toronto Office
167 Sheppard Ave W
Toronto, ON M2N 1M9
Phone: (416) 730-1777 Toll Free: (877) 730-1777 Fax: (416) 730-0955
London Meeting Office
341 Talbot St
London, ON N6A 2R5
Toll Free: (877) 730-1777
Peterborough Meeting Office
420 George St N #313
Peterborough, ON K9H 3R5
Toll Free: (877) 730-1777
Kitchener Meeting Office
290 King St E
Kitchener, ON N2G 2L3
Toll Free: (877) 730-1777
Owen Sound Meeting Office
1051 2nd Ave E
Owen Sound, ON N4K 2H8
Toll Free: (877) 730-1777

Past results are not indicative of future results.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2024, Goldfinger Law
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design