Law Times

Law times • SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 BRIEF: PERSONAL INJURY PAGE 5 'Death is not minor,' says OTLA president Continued from page 1 cases, considering that many work only on contingency and the claim could be thrown out at the threshold stage resulting in nothing for either the victim or their representative. The result of the regulations is that lawyers are turning away cases, "turning a lot of seniors away, a lot of children away, a lot of students, a lot of significant cases with injuries are getting turned away," Brown says. Brown also questions the need for a deductible when there is a fatality involved. "The deductible was meant to take out minor claims," says Brown. "Death is not minor. "To eliminate many claims is not right and I think most people in the industry, even the insurance industry, would agree to that." Calls by Law Times to the In- surance Brokers Association of Ontario were not returned. The Nelson family, of Wood- stock, Ont., sought claims when their mother, Glenna, was killed in 2004. A truck crashed into the vehicle she was a passenger in, forcing it off the road. Stephen Nelson says that when charges against the truck driver failed to lead to a convic- tion, his family looked for jus- tice through the civil system. When all was said and done the family paid $165,000 in deduct- ibles to the truck driver's insurance company. Each individual claim that the family sought was subject to a deductible. Nelson says his family had no idea what the re- quirements were in Ontario. "We were stunned, we were shocked, we were disappointed, we were outraged at every step of the process," says Nelson. "The orga- nizations and agencies that we ex- pected to defend our interests and hold the guilty parties accountable failed us one after another. "You assume that when some- body does something wrong and they're at fault, their actions, rec- ognizing they are not deliberate, the result of their carelessness is the kind of tragedy our family has experienced, you just assume that the government and the law will be there to defend your in- terests as victims, and hold the guilty parties accountable." Nelson has joined the trial law- yers and other victims and senior citizens groups in opposing Bill 198. The group held a news con- ference in mid-August to voice their concerns and to call on the government to change the rules. "Our family will not benefit in any way from any change in the law," says Nelson. "The only satisfaction we'll have, or be able to have, is from seeing the law changed so other families don't have to suffer the way ours did." The trial lawyers association the MPP for Pickering-Ajax- Uxbridge. "Obviously there is a political interest in what is happening, a government inter- est in what's happening, we rec- ognize that [financial services] and the experts in the area have a role to play." Arthurs says that he has been produced a report in connection with the roundtable discussion. That report, "Ontario Auto In- surance Five-Year Review: Ac- cess to Justice and a Balanced System," has been given to Bob Christie, CEO and superinten- dent for the Financial Services Commission of Ontario. Included in the report is a aware of the issues surrounding injury claims and victims' groups for some time. He also says there were more than 80 submissions to the review, and that they came from organizations and individual Ontarians alike. "Our interests are certainly multiple," says Arthurs. "To have affordable, effective insur- ance and to protect those who are injured, are important parts of public-policy areas." The government's position and the calls of victims groups may all end up being moot. In a landmark ruling in Alberta, known as Morrow v. Zhang, the courts struck down as un- constitutional a $4,000 cap on auto insurance payouts for soft- tissue damage claims. The for- mer Ralph Klein Conservative government brought in the rules in 2004, and the present-day Ed Stelmach Conservative govern- ment is appealing the ruling, calling the law unconstitutional. Structured Settlements BC LT 4/6/05 2:54 PM Page 1 The OTLA has received an opinion based on Morrow v. Zhang. "The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association . . . has already ob- tained an opinion from a consti- tutional expert on our threshold and deductible," says Brown. "The opinion that we received was positive in the sense that it was discriminatory and contrary to the charter." LT GILBERTSON DAVIS EMERSON LLP BARRISTERS AND SOLICITORS practice restricted to CIVIL LITIGATION, INSURANCE LAW January 2008 Ipsos Reid poll that shows 86 per cent of Ontar- ians believe the current system is unfair to accident victims. Fur- thermore, the poll shows that 62 per cent of Ontarians would pay a small premium increase if it meant accident victims would be compensated. Liberal MPP Wayne Arthurs, who hosted the roundtable on behalf of the minister of finance, says that recommendations will be made by Christie and those will likely come sometime this fall. "It's somewhat arm's-length, I wouldn't even call it that, short arms in some ways," says E.V. Litigation & Financial Services Inc. Elaine G.Vegotsky, CMA, CFE, CFI Assisting you in Litigation & Forensic Accounting, Financial Investigations 4 5 Sheppar d Avenu e East, Willowdale, Ontario M2N 5W9 Suit e 900 evlitigation@rogers.com Telephon e o r Fax (416 ) 930-1370 (905) 731-5812 John L. Davis Professional Corporation Richard Hayles R. Lee Akazaki James W. Wilson Jody W. Iczkovitz Jonathan J. Weisman Angela Emerson John L. Davis Counsel: James E. Adamson 20 Queen Street West, Suite 2020 Toronto, Ontario M5H 3R3 Tel: (416) 979-2020 Fax: (416) 979-1285 email: office@gilbertsondavis.com Vlit_LT_Mar17_08.indd 1 3/13/08 11:55:47 AM SUITE 501, 3 CHURCH STREET TORONTO, ONTARIO M5E 1M2 TEL:(416) 947 1266 FAX:(416) 947 0766 SETTLEMENTS@BAXTERSTRUCTURES.COM New address as of April 21st www.lawtimesnews.com

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