Category: Personal Injuries

Mitigation and Returning to Work After an Injury: What you Need to Know

Your duty to mitigate by returning to work

All personal injury plaintiffs are required to try and minimize their damages. This is called the duty to mitigate. Essentially, it means that even if someone else’s negligence caused your injuries, you have a responsibility to take all reasonable steps to heal from your injuries as best you can and to reduce any negative consequences from your injuries. If you could have taken reasonable actions to avoid or minimize a loss and you chose not to, damages for that loss will not be recoverable as our courts consider it unfair to make a defendant pay for losses that a plaintiff could have reasonably avoided. Continue reading

Fatal Accidents: Damages and Compensation for Wrongful Death of a Loved One

Losing a loved one is devastating. This article reviews your potential legal remedies as a result of wrongful death, but we know that no amount of money can replace your loved one.

We also recognize that the first step in dealing with your loss is to obtain emotional support from your family and friends, and to access necessary counselling support to help you cope with the grieving process.

Alberta Health Services has gathered some resources that you may find helpful here and additional resources are available through CAMH Edmonton. Your family doctor may also be able to connect you with local resources. Continue reading

Minor Injury Regulation Update – The Cap Inflationary Adjustment for 2022

The Superintendent of Insurance’s Interpretation Bulletin 05-2021 confirms the annual increase in the amount for non-pecuniary damages for minor injuries sustained in car accidents in Alberta.

Effective Jan 1, 2022, the maximum minor injury amount of $5,365 will be adjusted by 2.3% to $5,488. The new amount applies to injuries resulting from automobile accidents that occur in Alberta on or after January 1, 2022.

If you sustain soft tissue injuries in a car accident you may have heard reference to the minor injury cap or been told that by an insurance company representative that your injury is “caught by the cap.”  Continue reading

Injuries to School Bus Riders – What You Need to Know

It is every parent’s worst nightmare –  “School bus impaled by logs after collision north of Edmonton in Barrhead,” were the headlines in all the Alberta media outlets on November 2, 2021. Logs on a turning logging truck swung out and went though the side of the school bus. Unbelievably, and thankfully, no one was seriously injured but these types of random accidents can befall children riding as passengers in a school bus, with disastrous results.

A 2008 Final Report reviewing school bus collisions for Alberta Transportation recorded that every day in Alberta more than 5000 school buses were used to transport over 265,000 young Albertans to school. Continue reading

Safety Tips for a Happy and Safe Halloween 2021

Trick-or-treating is back! For those who celebrate Halloween, this is a wonderful time of the year. For an experienced plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer, however, Halloween can be a hazardous night. It’s never a bad call to review Halloween safety tips.

Children and teenagers, decked out in Halloween costumes, will be out and about, going from house to house to gather treats from strangers, frequently in unknown neighbourhoods and in darkness. And don’t forget people of all ages attending Halloween parties where alcohol or drugs may be in the mix.

There’s also a new issue to consider this year: many children are, as yet, unvaccinated. Continue reading

What happens when a child is injured while a passenger in a vehicle driven by a family member?

The leading cause of death for Canadian children is unintentional and preventable accidents, according to Raising Canada 2020,  a report produced by non-profit children’s welfare organization Children First Canada. Further, data from the Public Health Agency of Canada published in Injury in Review, 2020 Edition confirms that a major cause of serious injuries and death for Canadian children is transportation collisions.

In most cases, children are passengers, not drivers, and it is often a family member who is driving. No one wants to cause injury to a child, let alone a parent or family member, but accidents can happen at any time. Continue reading