Why A Healthcare Provider Should Refer Potential Clients to Thomson Rogers

When a healthcare provider is in a position to direct a potential accident victim to a trauma lawyer the most important thing for the healthcare provider to consider is who will do the best job for the client?

What is the best job for the client in the context of serious personal injuries? Is it the law firm that will get them the most money? Or is it a law firm that will help them get their life back on track while securing an efficient and favourable resolution of their claims?

Personal injury cases are complicated. It isn’t just about money! It’s about helping the client make the best recovery possible. At Thomson Rogers our focus is on helping the accident victim access all of the treatment and care they require so that they have the best chance of a great recovery.

Accessing treatment and care involves having an insurance company fund everything that is reasonably required. But these days insurance companies are armed with a multitude of options to delay making decisions relating to funding for care and treatment. The legislative changes in June 2016 made things much worse for the brain injury community. Since those changes, accessing the crucial ‘catastrophic impairment’ designation is delayed, often by years.

I was recently referred a case by a case manager working in northern Ontario. The case manager was aware that Thomson Rogers handles cases all over Ontario and they referred it to me for the right reasons — knowing that I would do everything possible to help the client make a great recovery while securing a favourable and efficient resolution.

Ultimately, I was able to successfully resolve the claim within 2 ½ years from the date of the accident. The resolution was a very good one that included a resolution of the tort claim as well as a resolution of the claim for catastrophic impairment accident benefits.

From the perspective of the referring healthcare provider, I note the following:

• Nearly $50,000 was provided in case management services before the catastrophic designation was obtained. Thomson Rogers took instructions from the client to ‘protect’ the account of the case manager to be paid when the claims were resolved. The case manager was confident that Thomson Rogers would be able to get the CAT designation and/or would successfully resolve the tort claim and therefore the case manager was prepared to take on the file on a protected basis. Access to the case management services prior to the CAT designation was vital for the client’s long term wellbeing and to help reduce the stress on the family in relation to the required complex rehabilitation coordination.Thomson Rogers requested and paid for a host of medical/legal reports, including reports by treatment providers that were used in the context of the tort claim and to support access to the CAT designation. Having access to these experts helped identify and explain the client’s injuries and helped document the client’s injuries for the benefit of the various insurers. The result was an increased probability of securing the CAT designation without a lengthy dispute and securing an efficient and favourable tort resolution. Thomson Rogers funded these reports as legal disbursements.

• Thomson Rogers took instructions from the client to protect accounts of various other providers prior to the CAT designation. All of the providers were prepared to work on a protected basis given their confidence that Thomson Rogers would ensure a favourable outcome. As a result, the client was able to continue accessing necessary treatment without facing delays caused by the insurance company’s unwillingness to extend funding above the non-catastrophic limits prior to the CAT designation being secured.

• The resolution armed the client with significant funds to address their future care needs and the treating healthcare providers will now continue to assist the client and be paid by the client out of their settlement funds for the many years to come.

At Thomson Rogers we take great pride in helping people make a great recovery. Innovative solutions like taking instructions from clients to access treatment by healthcare providers who can be paid later for that work is only one of the many tools we consider to develop our client’s case so that to help the client have the best chance at a favourable recovery.

Please think of contacting us whenever anyone in Ontario is badly injured and requires a legal consultation. We will work with you to help the client make a great recovery. Thomson Rogers has the credentials, reputation and ingenuity to be considered as the trauma lawyers that will do a great job for your client.

Darcy Merkur is a highly regarded Ontario trauma lawyer helping accident victims such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, who have sustained catastrophic injuries. 

Darcy is one of just four plaintiff’s personal injury lawyers in Ontario recognized as a Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation by the Law Society of Ontario, listed in peer-reviewed publications – Lexpert®, The Best Lawyers™ in Canada and AV pre-eminent Martindale-Hubbell ®. He is also a partner at Thomson Rogers, one of Canada’s Top 10 Personal Injury Law Firms as selected by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. 

Darcy can be reached at 416-868-3176 or by EMAIL.