A car accident often leaves the victim with lifelong injuries. Through a personal injury lawsuit, the victim can seek monetary damages from the parties responsible for the accident. There are additional financial issues that need to be addressed as part of a successful personal injury lawsuit that you might not be aware of at first….
In most car accidents, it is not too difficult to determine liability. If a driver runs a red light, for example, and hits another car in the intersection, it is pretty clear who is at fault. There are cases involving more unusual fact patterns that require courts to answer somewhat trickier legal questions.McKay v. Park:…
Unlike some other Canadian provinces, in Ontario, jury trials are still regularly used in civil cases such as personal injury lawsuits. Are juries really fair to accident victims? In a 2016 case, Mandel v. Fakhim, an Ontario Superior Court judge expressed the opinion that “jury trials in civil cases seem to exist in Ontario solely…
Following a car accident, there are two methods of receiving compensation for your injuries under Ontario law. The first is by filing a claim with your own insurance company, which is obligated to pay certain “no-fault” benefits under Ontario’s Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule(SABS). The second is by filing a personal injury lawsuit against any third…
Following a motor vehicle accident, your insurance company is expected to pay you certain income replacement benefits (IRB) under Ontario’s Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule. IRB does not replace all of an accident victim’s pre-accident income. Rather, it provides payments of up to 70% of the victim’s gross weekly income, although no more than $400 per…
Property owners, such as companies that own apartment buildings, have a duty under Ontario law to keep their premises in safe condition. This means, among other things, that the property owner needs to maintain a reasonable schedule of safety inspections to identify and correct any potential hazards that might injure a tenant or lawful visitor…
Liability for a motor vehicle accident is based on whether or not the defendant breached the applicable “standard of care,” and thus caused the plaintiff’s injuries. In Ontario, the general rule governing standard of care is what would an “ordinary, reasonable, cautious and prudent person in the position and circumstances of the defendant” do when…
Personal injury claims arising from motor vehicle accidents often come down to a battle of credibility, not only between the parties to the case, but also among any expert witnesses retained on their behalf. It is not uncommon for litigants to hire accident reconstruction experts to assist the court in determining fault, which in turn…
As we approach each holiday season in Canada, many of us will either attend or host parties where alcohol is served. Obviously, we all have an obligation not to drive while intoxicated. But when someone leaves a party drunk and causes a serious motor vehicle accident, can the victims pursue damages against the person who…
Not every personal injury claim arising from a motor vehicle accident goes to trial. More often than not, the parties (and their insurance companies) are able to reach an amicable settlement. By working with an experienced Toronto personal injury lawyer following a car accident, you can put yourself in the best position to obtain the…
A slip-and-fall accident may be the fault of multiple parties. If your accident occurs in a shopping centre, for example, liability might ultimately fall on the owner of the premises, an individual store that rents space, or even a contractor who performed shoddy maintenance work. Of course, when there are multiple parties who may be…
When you read about a motor vehicle accident in the press, you may be tempted to jump to conclusions about who is responsible. For instance, let us say you read that two cars collided in an intersection. According to the initial reports, one of the drivers had been drinking and was possibly impaired. You might…
If you suffer a catastrophic injury in a motor vehicle accident, you may be legally disabled and therefore unable to return to work. Aside from any benefits you recover under your auto insurance policy, or from the negligent driver in a personal injury lawsuit, you may also qualify for other benefits, such as long-term disability…
A Ontario Occupiers’ Liability Act, the owner has a legal duty “to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that persons entering on the premises, and the property brought on the premises by those persons are reasonably safe while on the premises.” While this does not mean…
Slip-and-fall accidents can occur for any number of reasons. Many of these reasons may be tied to some negligent act or omission on the part of a property owner. For example, if a shopping center fails to repair a known pothole in its parking lot, an injured person could sue for damages. The same goes…
Can you be fired while on disability in Ontario? We explored that question in an article earlier this year. As we explained then, the answer to that question is that it depends—mostly on the reason you were fired. Because Ontario’s Human Rights Code (HRC) requires employers to accommodate workers’ disabilities to the point of undue…
When you are injured in a car accident, Ontario law guarantees your right to certain benefits from your insurance carrier. These rights are spelled out in the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) and cover much more than your immediate medical expenses or the damage to your vehicle.Ontario’s SABS also guarantees your right to income replacement…
When a rear-end car accident occurs, Ontario law starts with the presumption that the rear driver was responsible. This means that if a personal injury case goes to trial, the driver of the rear vehicle must prove he or she did not cause the rear-end accident.Among other things, this includes proving the driver maintained a…
Ontario is a “no-fault” jurisdiction with respect to motor vehicle accidents. This means that your own insurance company is expected to pay you certain statutory benefits if you are injured in a car crash. Ideally, the system is supposed to promptly compensate you without the need to jump through a bunch of legal hoops. Unfortunately,…
A motor vehicle accident can leave you on the hook for significant damages, not just to injured persons but also to the vehicle’s owner. If you take out a rental car, for instance, your contract with the owner may require you to assume financial responsibility in the event of an accident. You may even be…
How many times a day do you post to your Facebook or Twitter account? For some of us, social media is as much a part of our everyday routine as brushing our teeth or driving to work. We have become accustomed to sharing every minute detail of our lives with our online friends, followers, and…
If you own a car that is involved in a Ontario Highway Traffic Act, the owner of a registered vehicle is “liable for loss or damage sustained by any person by reason of negligence in the operation of the motor vehicle.”However, an owner may escape liability if the person driving the vehicle had possession “without…
The Canadian family is changing. According to Statistics Canada, in 1991, 42% of Canadians were married, and 5.5% were cohabiting with another person as a couple. By 2017, the percentage of Canadians who were married had fallen to less than 39%, and the percentage who were cohabiting had jumped to almost 10%.Social shifts like these…
Like most Canadian provinces, Ontario follows a “loser-pays” rule in civil litigation. This means that as a general rule, the prevailing party in a lawsuit can seek reimbursement of a portion of the costs associated with the litigation from the losing party. Ultimately, if the parties fail to agree on costs, a judge makes the…
If you are involved in any kind of litigation or contested judicial proceeding, you want to know that the person deciding your case will act fairly and impartially according to the law. This is especially important in car accident cases in which an injured driver or passenger seeks statutory accident benefits.Statutory benefits are a key…
The results of this quiz are not intended to guarantee the outcome of your potential case. It is an application we have developed to help you get a better understanding of your situation and should not be viewed as the equivalent of speaking with an attorney.
