Note: This article was originally published for the Ontario Trial Lawyers’ Association.
Long-term disability insurance provides security. When disability strikes, and you cannot continue working, disability benefits can help ensure mortgage payments are made and food gets on the table. But every policy is different and can be fraught with land mines and unfortunate surprises.
For the first time in 15 years the Liberals are no longer the party in power in Ontario. When the Liberals
came into power in 2003, Ontario had a generous mandatory no-fault accident benefits for those
injured in automobile crashes and corresponding limits on innocent victims' right to sue at-fault drivers
in tort. Over the past 15 years this quid pro quo has been eroded: no-fault benefits have been slashed
while the rights for innocent victims to sue in tort have been further limited. It is a double whammy for
Ontarians, reduced no-fault benefits and limited rights to sue in tort.
Note: This article was originally published for the Ontario Trial Lawyers’ Association.
Reporter Sheryl Ubelacker reported on October 26, 2016 that 1 in 18 Canadian hospital patients experience harm from preventable errors.
As a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer, I work with many doctors. In every one of my cases there is a doctor involved. In my experience over the past 16 years in almost every case a client’s family doctor is the unsung hero.
Note: This article originally appeared in Robichaud's Criminal Defence Litigation.
When an accused is sentenced to custody they will be serving their sentence in either a Provincial or Federal institution. Sentences of two years less a day will be served in a Provincial facility. Sentences of two years or more will be served in a Federal penitentiary. Federal inmates are under the auspices of Corrections Services Canada.
In September 2016, I wrote a blog for the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association in the wake of Edmonton judge, Justice Denny Thomson’s decision to allow television cameras inside the courtroom to broadcast his decision in the Travis Vader murder trial.
$30,000 in damages and $151,045 in costs. $20,414.813 in damages and $237,017.50 in costs.
Litigation is expensive. We all know this to be a fact, but a couple of recent Ontario Superior Court decisions drive home the point. While at first blush one might think that awarding costs worth five and ten times the damages is outrageous, in both cases, the costs awards were fair and reasonable in the circumstances of each case. Had the trial judge awarded anything less, injustice would surely be the result.
As a lawyer helping people with medical malpractice cases, one of the most difficult tasks for me is to explain to an injured client and/or their family members the reality that in some cases, while the medical professional may be found negligent, the negligence did not cause the injury. The result: even though the medical professional was negligent, the injured client receives no compensation.
In Canada, we’re blessed with a universal health care system led by extremely well educated, qualified and caring doctors, nurses and other professionals. We trust these professionals with our lives, and in most cases, we’re treated well and we recover.
Unfortunately, preventable errors happen.
The dangers of driving while drowsy — how is that for alliteration?
To be serious, when you’re tired, you’re risking your own safety and the safety of everyone else on the road. According to a study released by the American Automobile Association (AAA) in December 2016, drivers who miss between one to two hours of the recommended seven hours of sleep in a 24-hour period nearly double the risk for a crash.
