Summer is the best time of year, according to almost anyone you ask. The weather is fine, there’s plenty of opportunities to get outside and play tennis or team sports, and it’s often when folks use their vacation time to get up north and soak in the natural beauty of Canada. After a long harsh winter, the warmth and long days are extremely welcome – not to mention the fact that the threat of slipping on ice and being pummeled by snowstorms disappears. However, even in the summertime there are many hazards that can lead to a slip and fall or equivalent injury that can leave you sidelined for weeks or months. Missing out on the summer is no fun, and if an accident occurs due to somebody else’s negligence, you aren’t helpless; an experienced slip and fall lawyer can help you obtain a fair settlement for physical and emotional trauma suffered.

While the vacation industry used to be regulated through resorts and hotels, the rise of peer-to-peer services such as Airbnb (which connects customers directly to private property owners) has opened up a Pandora’s Box that has transformed the way people travel and throws some of those regulations to the wind. For example: while all hotels and resorts are carefully scrutinized by inspectors making sure they are up to code, the property of private individuals is only as safe as the owner is diligent. Therefore, a whole new frontier of legal complications arises; if the owner who rents you their property is not performing maintenance and keeping their home safe, then there is a very strong possibility that an injury and subsequent legal action could follow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Goodman Elbassiouni LLP in Toronto and the GTA, we hope that you and your family have a safe, joyous summer. If, however, you or someone you care about hurts themselves on vacation, know that we’re here to guide you through the ensuing chaos and help spearhead the legal battle if in fact there has been an issue of liability and negligence. We highly recommend doing an in-depth inspection of the landing page for the rental property your considering, reading the specs and reviews and looking carefully at the pictures. If there aren’t many pictures, or they are of a lower quality, this is usually a sign that the property is not well kept and should probably be avoided.

One of the best tactics is to rely on word-of-mouth from friends and family: if someone you trust had an excellent experience and found a vacation property to be up to snuff, then you can feel confident booking it. Key issues to look for are wooden staircases that look old and dilapidated, missing or damaged railings, poor lighting and uneven flooring that can pose a tripping hazard. If you have small children, be especially vigilant when doing a background check on the place and be sure to identify any trouble spots where toddlers or young children could hurt themselves.

Hopefully, you can enjoy a safe and fun summer without needing to enlist a workers comp lawyer in Ontario – but if you find yourself injured due to someone else’s negligence, don’t be a victim; call Goodman Elbassiouni LLP!

If you are a car owner in the city of Toronto, then you know from firsthand experience: the roads can get pretty crazy. While the winter can pose many unique challenges with poor visibility, slippery roads and freezing rain, the spring and summer also have their own unique pitfalls. Primarily, summer traffic can get out of hand when people are converging on a baseball game downtown or heading up to Algonquin or Muskoka for camping or a weekend at the cottage. With Victoria Day long weekend on the horizon, you can expect to see the OPP out in full force ticketing Ontario drivers on the 400 and 401 (Torontonians are notorious for driving too fast) and doing ride checks – Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere – to discourage people from getting behind the wheel when they’ve had one too many.

The sad truth is that while most people out there are responsible, conscientious drivers, there are a few terrible drivers that pose a threat to everyone. Thus, no matter how cautious you are, there’s always an outside chance that you will be involved in an accident. This unfortunate fact will hopefully encourage you to be even more mindful on the road and practice defensive driving wherever possible. Until such a time as Google or Tesla have perfected the self-driving car and reduced accidents to virtually zero, car crashes are a statistical certainty; if you’re involved in an accident this summer, get a professional legal team working for you and make sure you are fairly compensated!

In the wake of an automobile accident, it’s important to act quickly and establish several pieces or information. If any or all of the following is true, call 911 immediately:

• Anyone appears to be seriously injured
• the damage to either vehicle appears to be in excess of $2,000
• Anyone involved in the accident appears to be in violation of the criminal code (typically by driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol)

If you do not need to call 911, get out of your car, take extensive pictures of the damage and exchange information with the other party. If there are any witnesses who saw the crash clearly, get their information as well. If it’s safe, you can then move your vehicle out of the road so that traffic can resume as normal. If you are not in need of medical attention, call your insurance company as soon as possible to report the accident – the sooner the better, as the details will be fresh in your mind. Once you’ve spoken to a representative from your insurance company, you may want to consult with a Toronto based slip and fall lawyer from Goodman Elbassiouni LLP who also specializes in auto collisions.

In Ontario, the Accident Benefits System is the branch of government responsible for making sure that you are paid out by your insurance company – or the insurance company of any other individual involved – in the wake of an accident. The benefits can cover rehabilitation and medical benefits for physiotherapy, chiropractic care, massage and income replacement benefits while you are disabled and unable to work.

The second course of action is to take legal action against the driver who is at fault, and if this is an avenue you choose to pursue, you will most certainly want to seek the counsel of a top-notch WSIB lawyer from the Goodman Elbassiouni LLP.

Here at Goodman Elbassiouni LLP, we’ve dealt with hundreds of WSIB cases over the years, and we have an in-depth understanding of how the system works. We even have lawyers and paralegals working with us who spent years working for the WSIB, and thus know all the tricks and ins and outs of how the process works. As we’ve said before, the WSIB has a tremendous amount of information to sort through at all times, and naturally certain cases are not going to be fairly decided – it would be unreasonable to expect so much.

While law deals with what’s right and what’s wrong and tries to nail that down to a science, the truth is that the world of human affairs is messy and nothing is ever cookie cutter perfect and easy to understand. When people get hurt and money is involved, it can become a tense and emotional time where people are often anything but cool-headed and analytical. For this reason, it is always wise to speak with a workers compensation lawyer in Toronto if you are hurt on the job – there will likely be unforeseen challenges in the process of seeking fair compensation.

Toronto is a city that is growing at an alarming rate, and as such, there are thousands of construction jobs – big and small – going on all over the city at any given moment. Statistically speaking, there are bound to be accidents, and when these accidents occur, you need a lawyer to help navigate the complex world of WSIB policy and to keep a cool head. Furthermore, if you’ve been badly injured, you need time to rest and recover. Stressing over the prospect of the appeals process or a legal battle is the last thing you should be worrying about when your health has been compromised.

Our slip and fall lawyers in Toronto have seen it all, and while we’re ready to consult with you at the drop of a hat, today we’ll also describe three tricky situations that can arise when you are hurt at work that may stand in the way of you obtaining the compensation you deserve.

Machiavellian Managers:

There is, of course, the possibility that your manager will do everything in their power to make it seem like the work accident was your fault, rather than the result of dangerous work conditions. Sometimes extremely ambitious managers with upward mobility in mind will conflate the facts to cover their own butts and leave you out in the cold. This is why we recommend vigilance and accountability as part of a workplace culture. When workers look out for each it lowers the incidence of injury and makes it easier to lay the facts out clearly for when you file for compensation or end up appealing.

Lack of Medical Evidence:

Perhaps the single most important thing you can do to ensure fair compensation following an accident is to visit a responsible doctor who will carefully document your injuries and conditions. If you are well on your way to recovery by the time you have to fight for your compensation, it’s going to be a tough sell if you don’t have those documents handy.

Goodman Elbassiouni LLP provides a free consultation for anyone who thinks they may need a competent and responsible personal injury lawyer, so speak with our lawyers today if you are hurt at work, in a slip and fall or in an automobile accident. You’ve got nothing to lose!