How should someone go about selecting the right lawyer?

How should someone go about selecting the right lawyer?

Often the best way to pick a lawyer is by speaking with family and friends about their experience with a particular lawyer. If you are trying to choose a lawyer where you don’t have a friend or family member’s referral to the lawyer, the most important thing in my opinion is that you need to feel ‘comfortable’ with the lawyer you selected.

For cases that operate on contingency, you do have an opportunity to try visiting or speaking to a few different lawyers to determine who you trust or click with more.

Some want their lawyer to be located downtown in a high-rise office tower and be dressed in a three-piece suit. If that’s what makes you feel comfortable and gives you a sense trust in your lawyer, then that’s where you should look for your lawyer. Alternatively, other people can be somewhat intimidated by the ‘big downtown law firm’ scenario. Those people need to find a smaller law firm where the lawyers are ‘approachable’ and give you a good first impression.

You want someone who is experienced in the field where you need help, will listen to you and work hard for you. Ultimately you should hire the lawyer who provides a sense of comfort and trust.

* Input from Conway Injury Law.

What is a ‘whiplash’ injury?

When you’re involved in a collision you may face a range of injuries to your neck. Whiplash is a soft tissue injury to the neck. It can also be called a neck sprain or neck strain. Whiplash is characterized by a collection of symptoms that occur following damage to the neck, usually because of sudden extension (bending the neck backwards) and flexion (the bending of a joint so that the bones forming the joint are brought closer together).

Paying close attention to your injury, and giving yourself ample time to heal, are critical components before proceeding with any legal action in a vehicle collision.

The disorder often occurs as the result of an car accident and may include injury to intervertebral joints, discs, and ligaments, cervical muscles, and nerve roots. Symptoms such as neck pain may be present directly after the injury or may be delayed for several days. In addition to neck pain, other symptoms may include neck stiffness from injuries to the muscles and ligaments (also known as myofascial injuries).

For a more comprehensive list of the different types of WAD injuries visit Conway Injury Law Calgary and their post on WAD 1, 2, 3.

Unseen Doesn’t Mean Un-hurt

Soft tissue damage is usually unseen. That means to people around you your injuries seem like phantom boo-boos, but in reality you’re in real pain. Family, friends, and other loved ones need to show empathy to those with soft tissue damage as these injuries do not come with broken bones or prolonged bruising.

You may slowly find yourself doing less and less around the house because your injuries are getting worse and worse. To those around you it may seem as if you’re physically fine on the outside and are just getting lazy! Remember, just because it can’ tbe seen doesn’t mean you aren’t hurt!

Secured Financing Intro

The idea of modernizing finance law has spread around the world. Secured financing is a way to stimulate economic growth and modernize an economy. In theory, capital is not used to develop the community because of the lack of legal infrastructure by which banks can lend capital and can hold an expectation to get it back. Many developing countries adopt systems patterned on the Canadian system.

In Canadian law, the core of the system is the security interest. What is a security interest? A secured interest is Propriety interest in the debtors property. This allows assertion of the nemo dat principle. The secured creditor defeats anyone who thereafter who takes an interest in the property.

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Introduction to the Tort of Negligence

Here are some introductory points on the tort of negligence.

The Elements of a Negligence Action –

Remember, the plaintiff usually has the burden of proving the first five, while the defendant has the burden of proving the sixth.

1. Duty of Care (limiting step) – there are policy considerations that can lead to the finding and non finding of a duty of care; this duty of care exists when it is reasonably foreseeable that your actions will have an effect on another person.

2. Standard of Care and its Breach – in most (but not all) negligence actions, the standard of care is the reasonable person standard .

3. Causation – has the breach of the duty of care caused an injury to the plaintiff? But for the breach of the duty of care, would the injury have occurred?

4. Remoteness of Damages (limiting step) – also called legal causation; if the damages are found to be too remote from the breach of the standard of care, then the plaintiff will not win the case.

5. Actual Loss – without loss, the plaintiff will not be successful (as opposed to intentional torts)

6. Defences – voluntary assumption of risk, illegality

Terms of Employment Contracts

The rules of employment contracts are similar to the rules of contract in general. For example, as per the freedom of contract, one is fully entitled to choose whether or not they want to enter into a contract. This applies to employment contracts as well. Employers are free to decide whether or not they want to enter into a contract with you i.e. hire you. Just like in regular contracts, the principles of offer, acceptance, consensus ad idem, etc are necessary to form an employment contract. An employer cannot unilaterally impose a contractual term onto an employee.

Definitions of Administrative Law (Canada)

Administrative actor: subject to the principles of admin law. Includes persons or bodies that exercise statutory or prerogative power. Boards, tribunals, etc are usually given authority pursuant to statute.

Judicial review: administrative actors are subject to judicial review. It is part of public law where superior courts under s96 engage in surveillance of lower tribunals to ensure they are acting legally. S96 courts derive their power from s96 of constitution, hence the name. The role of s96 courts in judicial review is part of their inherent authority. Federal courts operate differently they operate as equivalent as s96 court however they have statutory power, not inherent power. When they invented federal courts they took some powers that should belong to s96 courts and gave them to federal courts.

Sample cases where judicial review does or does not apply.

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Specific Section B benefits, Insurance Benefits

In Canada, depending on the province where you reside, there are certain benefits that your insurer has to pay to you after you’ve been in a car accident. Often referred to as the ‘Section B’ insurer, insurance has to pay certain benefits. Generally speaking, there are both income loss and medical expense benefits that are potentially payable. An often overlooked entitlement under the Section B benefits in Alberta is the right to claim $135 a week if you are not employed and are unable to perform your household duties. This is often referred to as the ‘homemaker’s benefit’. The relevant section of the policy reads as follows :

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The Symptoms of Whiplash and Possible Side Effects

Most people have heard of whiplash, but few actually know exactly what it is and how severe it can be. Essentially, whiplash is the stretching of the ligaments in the head, neck and shoulders. In medical terms, this is called “hyperextension” or is often referred to as a “sprain”. The most common cause of whiplash is after a road traffic collision, when the seatbelt keeps your body still, but your head is thrown forward.
In most cases, whiplash only lasts for a few weeks or months. However, around 15% to 20% of people who suffer whiplash go on to experience long-term chronic pain. In addition, even if symptoms of whiplash do stop, it doesn’t mean the head or neck ligaments are fully repaired and even a small jolt could bring on the symptoms again.

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