Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog
Brian Goldfinger has been writing the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog for over a decade.
In all my years of writing, I have never referred to the Toronto Blue Jays in the title of my blog.
Rarely (2-4 occasions) have I referred to the Toronto Blue Jays at all.
They’ve been an afterthought on the Toronto sports scene for many years. When I have referred to the Toronto Blue Jays in the past, it has been in a critical light. I have criticized the organization for acting like a small market team; while operating in a big market. When they do get big ideas, they never seem to execute on them properly, or at all. They play in the most competitive division in Major League Baseball; yet; they have seemed content to take a back seat to their competitors who do whatever it takes to win.
This season has been very different for the Toronto Blue Jays. They set a record for consecutive wins at home. They’re in first place in their division in July, which they haven’t done since their World Series Days back in the 90’s.
If you asked anyone who follows baseball, or who follows the Toronto Blue Jays whether to not they expected this sort of performance from the club, they would tell you this season has been the biggest surprise in baseball. Nobody; even the most optimistic fan, did not expect this level of success. In fact, if you had a prediction for the Toronto Blue Jays this season, it was that they would finish around .500; and that they would fire their manager either during the season, or at the end of the season. Based on a .500 winning percentage, it would be time for a change of manager.
But, this season has gone in a completely different direction. As of the time of preparing this edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog, the Toronto Blue Jays are winning and are relevant. There is a pleasant buzz around this team which hasn’t been seen for a very long time. This season’s performance has been unexpected in the best of ways.
But, how does the Toronto Blue Jays’ performance this season relate to personal injury law?
Clients often has how much their case is worth; or how long it will take to get the case settled or go to trial.
My first response is often by asking them another question:
“How long do you think it will take for your accident related injuries to heal? How long do you think it will take you to resume your normal day-to-day activities or return to work?”
Clients often look back at my with a puzzled look and a nervous grin. More often than not, they answer that “they don’t know“. I ask them why they don’t know. And they tell me it’s because they can’t predict the future. This is a completely fair, rational, and smart answer. Personal injury lawyers, insurance companies, and injured accident victims cannot predict the future. They cannot say with any certainty how their case will play out as time passes.
Just like the Toronto Blue Jays at the start of the season, nobody could predict how their season would pan out. Fans could be hopeful that the Jays would win, but they couldn’t say with any certainty that they would be successful.
Personal Injury Cases; much like the success of the Toronto Blue Jays, are unpredictable. Cases which you would think would have limited value, can blossom into cases with immense value. The same can be true, but in reverse. Cases which you would think are worth lots of money; can be worth less than what you would expect as time progresses and as the case plays out in real time.
Even if your personal injury lawyer has a sense that the case isn’t a “big winner“, it could turn into exactly that. Your personal injury lawyer cannot predict the future any better than you can. They do have different education, experience, training and insight on these cases which will make their assessments more reasoned, educated and likely more accurate. But, nothing is for certain and nothing is set in stone.
I can recall cases which I didn’t believe would have 6 figure or 7 figure value; but eventually settled for those amounts which is significantly more than initially anticipated. The same thing applies in baseball. The baseball season is a long one. It has the regular season games in North American Professional Sport. The season, just like a personal injury case, has a lot of twist and turns; ups and downs. Your personal injury lawyer can help guide you throughout these events; but how and when they occur is unpredictable. The more your personal injury lawyer sees, the more s/he will know. And, as time passes; one thing rings true; and that’s to expect the unexpected in a personal injury case. If you ask an experienced baseball manager what they can expect, they will probably tell you the exact same thing. The Toronto Blue Jays are doing great; but they are one bad stretch, or injury away from losing that top spot to another contender in their division. One bad road trip can mean the difference between making the playoffs and perhaps contending for a World Series vs. missing out on the playoffs altogether.
The same way that one injury can derail a World Series push; an accident or injury post litigation can do the exact same thing! If you get hurt in a car accident; and then you have another accident and sustain additional; or exacerbate your injuries which gave rise to the litigation; the insurer will likely point the subsequent injuries as the cause of the Plaintiff’s suffering. They will try to pin all of the injuries on the second accident, rather than the accident which gave rise to the litigation in the first place. Where the truth lies is up to the experts and up to the Courts to decide. Either way, what appeared to be a more clear case when it came to damages and causation has now become that much murkier on account of the subsequent accident and set of injuries.
So, I guess what I’m saying is that injuries can hurt a major league baseball team’s chances of playoff success. And that injuries post litigation can also hurt a Plaintiff’s chance of success in their personal injury case.
