LEGAL HELP: PERSONAL INJURY
FAULT-BASED COMPENSATION (Or... Should I be the only one paying?)
The "Legal Help" series is brought to you by:
The Professional Corporation of the Law Office of Robert A. Dinnen
4 Government Road East, Kirkland Lake, Ontario P2N 1A2
Telephone (705) 567-7979 - Fax (705) 567-7980
41 Third Street, P.O. Box 907, Englehart, Ontario P0J 1H0
Telephone (705) 544-8878 - Fax (705) 544-8444
Email [email protected]
IS FAIR COMPENSATION AVAILABLE FOR EVERY INJURY CAUSED BY ACCIDENT?
When An Accident Happens
- Remember the witnesses and get their names as soon as possible.
- Write notes of everything to preserve your memory.
- Get photographs.
- Consult with a lawyer immediately, either yourself or through a friend or relative, to ensure that your rights are protected.
Insurance
- Notices should, and in some cases must, go out within the first week after the accident.
- A claims file will be opened by the insurer and an adjuster will be appointed.
- Negotiations will begin.
- All relevant information and documentation should be released in consultation with your lawyer.
- If negotiations don't progress satisfactorily, talk to your lawyer about starting a court proceeding.
Court Proceedings
- Sometimes an "action" has to be started to preserve your rights under a limitation period.
- Sometimes it is started because negotiations have stalled or broken down.
- Pleadings: the documents filed with the court which initiate the action and defence and constitute a permanent record of the parties' positions.
- Discoveries: the documentary disclosure to the other parties to the action and the oral examinations of the parties by the opposing lawyers.
- Pretrial: the meeting among the parties' lawyers and a judge of the court to attempt settlement or plan the trial.
- Trial: the hearing in which parties and witnesses testify, lawyers make submissions to the judge (and, if applicable, the jury) and the court comes to a decision.
- Appeal: a proceeding in a higher court to review an error of law made by the trial court. May result in a reversal of the decision or a new trial.
Costs
- Usually a good lawyer will undertake a good case at his own expense.
- If the case is successful, some - but rarely all - of your legal costs will probably be ordered by the court to be paid by an unsuccessful litigant.
- Even if the case is settled without having to be decided by the court, sometimes another party contributes to your costs, but again, rarely are all of your costs covered.
- Talk to your lawyer at an early stage to clear up how he will be paid and how his fees and disbursements will be calculated.
Fair compensation may be available only with effective legal representation.
The "Legal Help" series is brought to you by:
The Professional Corporation of the Law Office of Robert A. Dinnen
4 Government Road East, Kirkland Lake, Ontario P2N 1A2
Telephone (705) 567-7979 - Fax (705) 567-7980
41 Third Street, P.O. Box 907, Englehart, Ontario P0J 1H0
Telephone (705) 544-8878 - Fax (705) 544-8444
Email [email protected]