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.
It won’t be long before picking up your phone while driving, even if stopped at a red light, will cost you even more money.
On September 20, 2017, Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca announced that the Liberal government will introduce legislation to increase the fines for distracted driving from a maximum of $1,000 to up to $2,000 on second conviction, and up to $3,000 for a third or subsequent conviction as well as six demerit points for multiple offences.
Note: This article originally appeared in The Lawyer’s Daily.
The Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Bruff-Murphy v. Gunawardena 2017 ONCA 502, is a must-read for all personal injury lawyers. On the one hand, the court sent a clear direction to trial judges that they must take a more robust role as the gatekeeper of expert evidence, which should mark the end of either side using "hired guns."
