Toronto Personal Injury Lawyers

Ontario Personal Injury Compensation Process

As the victim of an accident, you need to hire counsel to help you navigate the process of recovery while preserving your rights to compensation. 

Ontario accident lawyers Richard Auger and Brenda Hollingsworth will explain the legal process to you in detail. Here’s just a peek at what to expect. 

• Fact-finding and legal research: At this initial stage, Toronto accident lawyers Richard and/or Brenda will meet with you, review all the facts as to how the accident happened, and identify your current injuries and future losses. They will review all documents, locate and interview witnesses, obtain all relevant medical and employment records, and conduct legal research to determine all theories of liability and recovery.
• Pleadings: A lawsuit begins with a Statement of Claim which states the claims for injuries and demands compensation along with the story of how the accident occurred. The defendant, usually represented by an insurance company, responds to the Statement of Claim with a Statement of Defence, which lays out the defendant’s version of the accident. We can file a response to the Statement of Defence, which rebuts the defendant’s version of the story.

• Mediation: In many areas of Ontario, a mandatory 3-hour mediation is often scheduled early in the process, to help the parties try to settle the lawsuit. To prepare for mediation, Richard or Brenda will choose a mediator whose style and reputation is favourable to you; prepare a statement of issues, otherwise called the mediation memorandum; and represent you at the mediation.
• Discovery: If the lawsuit is not settled during the mediation process, the next step is to focus on fact-finding by requesting documents and calling witnesses for examination to secure a full picture of what happened. As the plaintiff, you, too, will be asked to produce requested documents and to write up what you experienced and know in an affidavit, signed under oath, and perhaps submit to a physical examination to allow the defendant to evaluate your injuries. Key documents are medical records, road or walkway maintenance records, vehicle repair records and your employment file if there are claims for loss of income. 
• Examination for Discovery in Ontario: We will schedule, prepare for, and attend the examinations for discovery, which requires that each party be questioned under oath by the other party’s counsel. This process can often be intimidating, but Richard and Brenda, and their team, will prepare you and sit by you as you are questioned.  

• Trial Preparation: All of these steps described above are part of Toronto accident lawyers Richard and Brenda’s work-up to trial. In addition, all potential witnesses will be identified and interviewed, any expert witnesses will be hired and given an opportunity to evaluate the cause of the accident, or the resulting injuries, and will undertake any other potential fact gathering.
• Toronto Settlement Conference: This may be the first significant consideration of your case by a court official, a judge or a master. Your lawyers at Auger Hollingsworth will schedule the settlement conference; prepare the settlement conference brief, which is called the script for trial; and attend the settlement conference with you.  

There might be interim proceedings called motions, where the issues presented for trial might be simplified, evidence excluded, or additional documents produced.

Many times as a case proceeds to trial, lawyers for the parties meet to discuss settlement, an alternative to the cost and time required to try a case before a jury. However, only experienced Toronto personal injury lawyers like those at Auger Hollingsworth can move forward with trial preparation while also negotiating a fair and equitable settlement of your claims.