Personal Injury FAQs

You should hire a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after your accident or injury. Having a lawyer’s guidance from the outset ensures your legal rights to bring a claim are preserved. Further, a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer can help identify medical treatment and care options to help you recover. It is critical to remember that the existence or severity of an injury may not be evident in the immediate aftermath of an accident. As such, a personal injury lawyer can make sure your interests are protected before it’s too late.

In most cases, it will take between six months and three years to settle a personal injury claim. However, not all cases will fall within this range and there can be exceptions, depending on the particular circumstances of the case. Less complicated claims may be resolved quickly through negotiation. Others can take significantly more time, depending on the severity and complexity of the injuries, the technical or legal issues at stake, the experience or skill level of the lawyers involved, and whether the claim is resolved through alternative dispute resolution processes or at trial. In most cases where the client has entered into a contingency fee arrangement with their personal injury lawyer, fees will not be due until the case has been settled.

It is important to work with an experienced personal injury lawyer who is knowledgeable about personal injury law, as their familiarity with the legal process and procedures will help your claim proceed as efficiently as possible. At the same time, a skilled personal injury lawyer will know when to wait and see how your injuries manifest, so your potential compensation is not reduced just for the sake of expediency.

There are three elements that must be present to have an actionable personal injury claim. First, the culpable party (the defendant) must have owed a duty of care to the plaintiff. Second, the defendant acted negligently – i.e., they failed to act with proper prudence or care. For example, drivers owe a duty of care to safely operate their vehicles, and doctors owe a professional duty of care in providing medical treatment. Finally, the plaintiff must have suffered an injury that was caused by the defendant’s negligence and failure to meet their duty of care.

To find out for sure whether you have a personal injury claim, you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after being injured. By consulting with a lawyer early in the process, you secure your legal rights and any entitlement to compensation.

The amount of compensation you’re entitled to after suffering a personal injury depends on the circumstances of your case, including:

• The number, type, extent, and severity of the injuries involved;
• The cause of the injuries or circumstances of the accident;
• The parties involved in the accident;
• The law applicable to the injuries and accident, including prior case law decided by Canadian courts and legislation specific to the circumstances of your case.

There are several types of damages (compensation awards) that may be available in personal injury cases, depending on the circumstances. These can include:

• General (non-pecuniary) damages, which are intended to compensate plaintiffs for the pain and suffering, inconvenience, or reduced quality of life caused by the injury;
• Economic or special (pecuniary) damages, which reimburse the injured party for the out-of-pocket expenses incurred (or that are likely to be incurred in the future) as a result of the injury, including lost income, medical and rehabilitation expenses, and housekeeping costs;
• Punitive and aggravated damages, which are intended to punish the defendant whose conduct caused the injury. These damages are less commonly awarded by courts than compensatory damages (general and economic/special damages).

A knowledgeable personal injury lawyer will review the circumstances of your case and can provide a thorough assessment of the type and range of damages you may expect to recover.

Most personal injury law firms, including Cuming & Gillespie LLP, work under a contingency fee arrangement. Under this type of arrangement, the lawyer is only paid for their services when and if their client’s personal injury claim is settled.

Cuming & Gillespie LLP covers the cost of all disbursements, such as medical reports, court filing fees, and expert assessments, for the duration of your file. These costs can otherwise be extremely expensive. Under our contingency fee arrangements, clients only pay once their claim is resolved – if there is no settlement or successful outcome, the client does not owe anything to the firm.