FAIR Submission to MAG Consultation re: Civil Juries
This is an opportunity to take a progressive turn in modernizing the administration of Ontario’s justice system. Auto accident litigants are not criminals, so being judged by one’s own peers has little meaning and there are no checks and balances or accountability for juries. Judges must provide reasoning for their decisions so eliminating juries and the need to withhold knowledge of a ‘secret deductible’ from jurors would go a long way to establish faith in our courts whose current state is one of a system that has squandered the public’s trust by failing to provide accountability while allowing insurers to overuse and abuse the courts in the name of higher profits.
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What we know so far about submissions on the Jury issue
OTLA Submission to MAG on Civil Juries
Rastin Letter to MAG re civil juries June 15, 2020
Canadian Defence Lawyers https://issuu.com/enzadel/docs/submission_re_civil_juries_cdl
Zarek, Taylor, Grossman, Hanrahan http://ztgh.com/system/frame/posts/pdfs/000/001/397/original/Zarek_Taylor_Grossman_Hanrahan_-Submissions_on_Civil_Jury_Trials_dated_June_15__2020.pdf?1592247977
Globe and Mail article https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-legal-community-given-until-june-15-to-provide-input-as-ontario/
IT IS TIME TO ABOLISH JURY TRIALS IN CIVIL MATTERS https://www.mcleishorlando.com/blog/it-is-time-to-abolish-jury-trials-in-civil-matters/
Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey should not be rushing to axe civil juries, FOLA warns https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/litigation/ontario-attorney-general-doug-downey-should-not-be-rushing-to-axe-civil-juries-fola-warns/330582?utm_source=GA&utm_medium=20200617&utm_campaign=Newsletter-20200617&utm_content=AE1FF389-FA2E-4B96-8FEA-FEEF64C1AAE4&tu=AE1FF389-FA2E-4B96-8FEA-FEEF64C1AAE4
We continue to update at: http://www.fairassociation.ca/2020/06/what-we-know-so-far-about-submissions-on-the-jury-issue/
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REMINDER: A Survey of Access to Rehabilitation Insurance Coverage for Adults with Brain Injury Caused by Motor Vehicle Collision
Please note the deadline to complete the survey is Friday, June 19th, 2020.
If you have questions or need more information about the study itself, please contact student investigator Laura Brooks by email at brookl2@mcmaster.ca, or call Dr. Turkstra at 905.525.9140 Extension 28648.
The goal of this research project is to help us better understand the experiences that those with brain injury following a motor vehicle collision have with their auto insurance claims.
https://surveys.mcmaster.ca/limesurvey/index.php/241452?lang=en
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Ontario drivers have seen auto insurance savings but minister says more needed
Insurance companies have provided $685 million in relief to Ontario drivers using their cars less during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the province’s finance minister says more should be done.
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Insurance workers report they were ‘muscled’ by body shops as probe into tow truck wars continues
Insurance industry employees have come forward describing incidents of being “muscled” by body shops, police say, as a joint-forces operation into the tow-truck wars across the Greater Toronto Area made eight more arrests.
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Insurance regulator explains why it slashed 73% of regulatory guidance
Ontario’s new financial services regulator launched last June with a mission to reduce the regulatory burden for industry players. One year into the job, that’s exactly what the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) has done.
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Discoverability and Tomec Once Again
In an interesting sequence of events following an 2003 accident, the Applicant presented for the 2nd time a claim for ACB upon being deemed a CAT in January 2015. Without referencing the original ACB denial in March 2012, the insurer proceeded to request two IEs in May and June of 2016 and agreed that ACB was payable, upon submission of receipts.
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Law Society of Ontario alleges dozens of personal injury websites are ‘misleading’
The Law Society of Ontario has
alleged that a North York lawyer received client leads through a network of 31 websites apparently belonging to separate putative firms, many of which have domain names suggesting that they are personal injury law firms.
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Ontario’s court of appeal ramps back up to 15-20 appeals per week
As courts across the country have struggled to continue operating in light of COVID-19 and the physical distancing required, Canadian Lawyer has surveyed chief justices of courts across Canada on how they are managing the crisis.
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Settlement Smarts
To get you ready for this, we’ve created the Settlement Smarts primer to help you prepare and navigate the settlement processes you may encounter during your time as an SRL. This primer contains both personal and strategic tips specific to the process. We hope that it will provide you with a helpful starting point.
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BrokerLink: How to lower your car insurance premium in Ontario
In the province of Ontario, every single driver is required to have a current and up-to-date auto insurance policy. This policy must include four mandatory coverages: Liability, Accident Benefits, Direct Compensation and Uninsured Automobile.
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OCF Claim forms can be a big headache. Car accidents litigation should be simple to understand. But in Ontario, it’s far from simple. The forms are intimidating, long, and hard to understand. It’s scary; especially after you’ve been left seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident when you’re at your most vulnerable.
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Martin Regg Cohn: Doug Ford says he wants to fight racial injustice. So why is he undermining tribunals that help do just that?
Behind the scenes, behind the bench, the untold story of systemic racism and injustice is of a Progressive Conservative government that is systematically undermining accountability — by dismantling the judicial tribunals that safeguard us against racial discrimination, environmental degradation, social privation and tenants’ rights.
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PM announces extension of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced that the government is extending the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) by eight weeks, to ensure Canadians have the help they need as they transition back to work. This extension will make the benefit available to eligible workers for up to a total of 24 weeks.
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Providing virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic
Many regulatory, public health, and government authorities encourage virtual care—via telephone, video platforms, and so on—as an alternative to face-to-face visits in an effort to limit direct contact as part of the COVID-19 response.
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New TBI Report Card Released for Ontario
The report card has been released by
The Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation and captures regional and provincial data on 11 metrics of prevention, acute management, rehabilitation and reintegration continuums of care. The latest report uses data from 2017/18. The report is filled with valuable data for health care professionals, therpists and family members of those with serious TBI.
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V1301 – A Return to Work Does Not Negate an Attendant Care Benefit
The road to recovery following a motor vehicle accident can be long and hard; the disruption to activity and employment can be significant. For those who suffer severe injuries, a return to work can be extremely challenging. When a person succeeds in such a return to work, it can often be at great cost in terms of physical, emotional and cognitive energy.
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V1302 – Psychotherapy Rates: Why is the Debate Ongoing?
In July of 2019,
we highlighted the alarming trend whereby accident benefit carriers were imposing reduced rates upon psychotherapists; rather than approving the typically requested rate of $149.61 per hour, as afforded per the Fee Guideline to psychologists and psychological associates, insurers were demonstrating variability in their approach to approvals of psychotherapists. With partial approvals sometimes being rendered at rates as low as $58.19 per hour, we witnessed impact to our clients in that they were challenged to access care within their communities.
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What Are Invisible Injuries?
So many injuries don’t come up on a scan or x-ray; they’re not always immediately ‘visible’ and their lack of tangibility make them harder to assess, both from a medical perspective and a claim perspective. But for you, the victim, this lack of visibility doesn’t make them any less real or painful.
