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May 30, 2017
Proving the cause of newborn neurologic injury in birth trauma litigation, an essential step to a successful lawsuit, is both complex and challenging. Determining causation begins with the newborn’s brain. The areas of the brain affected, the pattern of brain injury and the evolution of injury all provide vital information about the mechanism of injury and the timing of … Continued 
In April of 2017, the appeal decision of Delegate Rogers in MVACF v. Barnes was released. The decision will be troublesome for many families who provide attendant care to their injured love ones in a non-professional capacity. To understand the importance of the decision, the February 1, 2014 amendment to the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule … Continued February 28, 2017
If you have been in a car accident, when is the best time to hire a personal injury lawyer? Following a car accident, you will likely find yourself very quickly hearing from various insurance companies. The easiest way to respond to them is to tell them to speak with your lawyer and if you have … Continued Presented at Osgoode Professional Development Program | Successful Advocacy in Tort and Personal Injury Mediations | February 15-16, 2017
Lawyers have a long-established reputation for being difficult and behaving badly. Some might say that lawyers are inherently difficult and often behave badly because it is expected (even required) of them in order to effectively advocate for their clients. The poor reputation of lawyers is undeserved, and good lawyers recognize that effective advocacy is never … Continued The Lawyers Weekly - Recovery Personal Injury Magazine | by Kim Arnott, Wendy Moore Mandel quoted | November 2016
Latest revisions to auto insurance system in Ontario seen as meaning less for more people who are injured. Few people expect to walk away from a car crash unscathed. But when it comes to the most severe financial and medical impacts, most assume their automobile insurance will cushion the blows. For Ontario drivers, that protection is … Continued The Lawyers Weekly | September 9, 2016
Two recent decisions by the Ontario Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal for Ontario provide a sobering reminder of the necessity of providing clear and unequivocal breakdowns of the amounts received for Statutory Accident Benefits (SABS), including any lump sum settlements. A similar clear set of jury questions which separates each head of damage … Continued ABR Updater | Issue 32 | August 2016
About a year ago, I was speaking with a friend who had started driving for UberX. I asked my friend whether his automobile insurer was aware of his ridesharing activity. I pointed out to him that the standard automobile insurance policy in Ontario excludes taxis and drivers with paid passengers. Following our conversation, my friend … Continued Law Times | by Michael McKiernan, Darcy Merkur quoted | June 13, 2016
Darcy Merkur wants to inject a new word into the public lexicon when it comes to personal injury law boutiques: “classy.” His firm, Thomson Rogers, teamed up with fellow industry heavyweights Oatley Vigmond Personal Injury Lawyers LLP and McLeish Orlando LLP to form the Personal Injury Alliance four years ago, introducing themselves with a series … Continued For a long time, “chronic pain” has been seen as an unfavourable term in personal injury litigation. Although there have been some positive strides in recent years, there still remains a perception for many that the disability is not real. But for many people, chronic pain syndrome is a very genuine, very disabling condition; and it is one … Continued The Lawyers Weekly - Recovery Personal Injury Magazine | by Grant Cameron, Wendy Moore Mandel quoted | June 2016
When someone is accused of a criminal offence, whether due to a car accident or more heinous wrongdoing, they’re often so consumed with planning for their day in court that they don’t consider the effect of the charges on civil proceedings. Many assume that a Highway Traffic Act or Criminal Code conviction is separate from a future civil law claim. However, according to … Continued The Lawyers Weekly | April 29, 2016
Every year a number of newborns, small but significant in absolute terms, suffer avoidable brain injury during labour and delivery caused by poor obstetrical care. The losses are serious, with many suffering profound disability from cerebral palsy. Many have winnable cases, yet few are pursued. More is needed to overcome the medical and legal obstacles … Continued Accident Benefit Reporter | Volume 17, Issue 1 | May 2016
Just in time for April Fools’ Day, a letter arrived at my home from my automobile insurer. My insurer was “writing to inform you of upcoming changes to your automobile insurance”. Enclosed with the letter was an “introduction to these changes, provided by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.” The letter advised “your coverages remain … Continued Accident Benefits Summary Charts (for accident on or after June 1, 2016)
To help those in Ontario understand the major automobile insurance changes and the new reduced accident benefits limits, Thomson, Rogers has prepared two useful accident benefits summary charts. The first chart: Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule Summary (for accidents on or after June 1, 2016) highlights the accident benefits available for each of the three categories of … Continued 
With the recent high-profile acquittal of Jian Ghomeshi in respect of various sexual assault and related criminal charges, there has been significant media attention over the challenges faced by sexual assault survivors in advancing claims in the courts. There is no question that sexual assault claims, in the absence of physical evidence, are difficult to … Continued ABR Updater | Issue 30 | March 2016
The recent Divisional Court decision in Mikolic v. Tanguay, 2015 ONSC 71(CanLII) sheds light on the credit a tort defendant receives when the statutory accident benefits case (SABS) settles before the tort trial. At issue was what, if anything, from the SABS settlement was deductible from a jury award at trial of: $20,000 for past … Continued Canadian Biker | by Craig Brown | March 2016
Since I began riding in 1968, I have believed in the old adage “a motorcycle is the safest vehicle on the road – up to the point of impact”. Although I have been fortunate in avoiding a serious accident I have, like most riders, come off the bike on numerous occasions. Those incidents are a … Continued Toronto Sun | by Darcy Merkur | March 5, 2016
Ontario drivers are legally required to purchase automobile insurance that includes overpriced, no-fault accident benefits coverage. If you look at your automobile insurance invoice, you will see that some 25% (or roughly $350) of your annual automobile insurance premiums are specified to be in relation to your mandatory purchase of these no-fault accident benefits. With … Continued The Lawyers Weekly | February 5, 2016
A recent decision by arbitrator Knox Henry of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) in Thomas Waldock and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company has sent a wake-up call to all insurance companies about their primary duty of utmost good faith to their insureds when dealing with first party claims. In this case, a … Continued 
On August 27, 2015 the Ontario Legislature released the regulation with the changed definition for Catastrophic impairment determination which will affect those in accidents on or after June 1, 2016 or when their policy renews thereafter, whichever is later. The goals of this paper are first to provide a brief overview of the changes to … Continued The Lawyers Weekly | February 5, 2016
Recent amendment to SABS being used as “old rules-new rules’ bargaining chip. Yet again the insurance industry has been thwarted in its attempt to retrospectively apply insurer friendly legislative changes to ongoing claims. The issue of the retrospective application of legislative changes was again before the court in the context of automobile insurance rights in … Continued