Law Times

Law Times • January 31, 2011 NEWS PAGE 3 Lawyers stepping up to help veterans About 80 people across the province have signed up for OTLA effort BY RON STANG For Law Times WINDSOR, Ont. — Ontario lawyers are stepping up for Canada's veterans with about 80 of them having already signed on to donate their time to help soldiers seeking benefi ts and appealing compensation awards for injuries sustained during service. One of them, Windsor personal injury lawyer Greg Monforton, hasn't served in the Canadian Forces but notes he knows "enough people who have to have a pretty elemen- tary understanding at least of the sacrifi ces made and horrors endured by those who have." Th e Ontario Trial Lawyers Association launched the eff ort to help veterans after a fl urry of protests and news stories late last year criticizing Ottawa for the way it treats them. Th e biggest issue is the government's change in the way it pays compensa- tion, which activists charge is simply a cost-saving measure at a time when there are more se- vere claims resulting from injur- ies suff ered in Afghanistan. Michael Blais, founder of Canadian Veterans Advocacy, says the government revamped the disability pension system in 2006 "to save money." A major change was the introduction of lump-sum pay- ments that could total hundreds of thousands of dollars but still would be less over the long term than monthly pensions for ser- iously injured veterans. "Th ey abrogated their lifetime com- mitment to veterans and paid them off with this lump-sum payment," Blais says. Katherine Morrow of Veterans Aff airs says the 2006 changes were an eff ort to meet the needs of younger veterans who might require ongoing rehabilitation and income sup- port while searching for work. But she notes the feedback from claimants has found gaps. One was that the lump-sum pay- ments "may not be appropriate for all people." As a result, the government is revamping the system to pro- vide as much as $40,000 a year for severely injured veterans. But Blais says the legislation still hasn't been passed and, with an election possibly in the offi ng, could face further delay. "It's not retroactive," he says. "So the chances are these poor soldiers who are likely in poverty or near poverty may be in that state for another year regardless of what the government promises." Meanwhile, veterans often appeal government decisions on compensation, which is where lawyers come in. In 2008-09, about 39,000 decisions related to disability claims involved appeal rights to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. During the fol- lowing year, 4,700 claims went to a review hearing, the board's fi rst level of redress. Th ose ap- pealing could represent them- selves or have legal counsel. Free legal assistance has been available since 1971 from the Bureau of Pensions Advocates. It receives government funds but "is otherwise like any pri- vate law fi rm," says chief pen- sions advocate Brian McKenna. Th e bureau's 40 lawyers have an average of 20 years' experi- ence. Th ey work exclusively with people involved in a de- partmental review or who go before the board. Th e bureau represents more than 13,000 veterans a year. According to McKenna, surveys indicate "more than 95 per cent" of them are happy with the service. But Blais says there's still a need for more advocacy given that the bureau "is maintained by Veterans Aff airs Canada [and] for some veterans, par- ticularly those who have used [its] services yet feel they still have not received justice, [they] would feel more com- fortable were there an outside, non-Veterans Aff airs-aligned resource to draw upon." Monforton, who's also a past OTLA president, says he volunteered to help because "it was just something that appealed to me." Another lawyer, Andrew Murray of Lerners LLP in London, Ont., says the issue of inadequate compensa- tion "wasn't on my radar screen initially" and adds he was "very surprised when I learned of the diffi culty that many folks are facing." Six lawyers at his fi rm have signed up to help. While he hasn't served in the military, Murray notes one of his fi rm's founders, Sam Lerner, "was a very proud veteran." Monforton, who has been getting up to speed on the legislation governing veterans, says the OTLA eff ort has "re- quired us all to become quite familiar with a fairly compli- cated and convoluted adjudi- cation process in a really short period of time." While he hasn't yet repre- sented clients before the appeal board, he has been in "discus- sions with my colleagues across the province" to learn more and exchange information. "Th e issues that our servicemen and servicewomen are facing are As personal injury lawyers, 'this was a natural fit,' says Greg Monforton. very much akin to those faced by the people we represent day in and day out," he says. Murray, whose practice in- cludes personal injury law, often represents accident victims and long-term disability claimants whose cases bare some similar- ity to veterans' claims. He's al- ready working with one person who didn't realize he could seek compensation for a hear- ing loss acquired as far back as the 1950s from operating a heavy machine gun. "He was surprised that he only found out about any compensation through a friend," he says. "Nobody contacted him to say you have certain entitle- ments and you should be applying. It was by fl uke. He was disappointed that it was not something more trans- parent." Monforton, meanwhile, has already had contact with half a dozen veterans. "What I've come to appreciate is that they face the same fun- damental obstacles that all injured people do," he says. "Whether one is injured in a car accident or on the battlefi eld, the fundamental challenges are the same: prov- ing what's happened to you; proving entitlement to what- ever compensation is available. . . . So for lawyers like myself who act for injured people on a day-in, day-out basis, this was a natural fi t." LT Untitled-4 1www.lawtimesnews.com 1/25/11 1:18:03 PM

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