Abolish The Pain and Suffering Damages Cap
This blog post by Duncan Macgillivray was originally featured on the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association Blog on May 31, 2017. Back in 1978, the Supreme Court of Canada set an upper limit or “cap” on pain and suffering damages in Andrews v. Grand & Toy Alberta Ltd. J.A. Andrews was only 21 when he was rendered quadriplegic from a ...
Everyone Should Have $2M Automobile Liability Limits
This blog post by Duncan Macgillivray was originally featured on the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association Blog on September 5, 2018. Automobile liability insurance covers you if you are sued for injuries caused in an automobile accident. Your insurance company appoints a lawyer, defends you and pays out any damages (up to the liability limits). In ...
The Cruelest Personal Injury Law
This blog post by Duncan Macgillivray was originally featured on the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association Blog on November 2, 2018. There are a lot of cruel personal injury laws: caps on pain and suffering, secret deductibles, biased doctors, the list goes on. But, there is one that is the worst of them all: The cap ...
Time to Eliminate Most Civil Juries
This Op-Ed by Duncan Macgillivray was originally published in the Chronicle Journal on July 31, 2020. The Ontario Government is considering eliminating juries for new civil lawsuits. Eliminating most civil juries makes sense. Civil jury trials should be reserved only for exceptional situations which trigger a public interest and engage community values or a person’s ...
Total Disability: Not So Total After All!
A version of this article by Duncan Macgillivray and Jeff Moorley originally appeared on the OTLA Blog. Many Long-Term Disability (LTD) insurance policies state that the insured person will only qualify for benefits if they become “Totally Disabled” or suffer a “Complete Inability” to work. To avoid confusion, we will use these phrases interchangeably. It ...