Thoughts From This Side of The Bench
THEY SHOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS – PUNITIVE DAMAGES Most disputes between an insurance company and their insured are reasonable differences of opinion: You honestly believe you cannot return to work and the insurance company believes you can. If both positions are backed by solid medical evidence, off to trial (or mediation) you […]
AT LAST. AT LONG, LONG LAST. The Pope has just apologized for the abuses committed by certain members of the Catholic Church against children while students at Canada’s residential schools. He delivered his apology directly to school survivors who were delegated to meet with him at the Vatican. The apology had been sought for decades. […]
AN ANGRY SUICIDE NOTE, A $600,000 LIFE INSURANCE POLICY AND A DISAPPOINTED SPOUSE On a summer evening in 2019, after a day on his boat smoking some hash and drinking vodka, Joseph Joy hung himself. A handwritten note was found in his shorts. It was full of invective against Joanne, his wife of 3 years […]
WHEN SPOUSES ACT VERY BADLY – A BRAND NEW PATH FOR JUSTICE IN ONTARIO Finally. After decades of relative inaction, our civil courts have decided to do something about family violence. A Better Option True, the abused spouse could always lay criminal charges for assault or uttering threats. But the standard for proof in a […]
LIMITED OPTIONS: WHEN YOU ARE A MEMBER OF A UNION Our firm regularly receives inquiries from frustrated unionized employees who have been injured on or off the job, are experiencing harassment, or are battling other legal challenges at their place of work. In most of these cases, the employee feels that the union is not […]
PUSHING BACK WHEN THE INSURER DENIES YOUR LONG TERM DISABILITY CLAIM At Tamming Law, over our 30 years of litigating long-term disability claims, we have heard all the reasons insurers use to deny claims for disability benefits. In our experience, there are 5 that are quite common. Let’s go over them. #1 “Our Medical […]
TREAT YOUR EMPLOYEES FAIRLY AND DECENTLY OR PAY THE CONSEQUENCES Melanie McGraw is one impressive firefighter. A captain in her local volunteer force in Dundalk, Ontario and its administrative assistant, a part time instructor for the Ontario Fire College, and now a full-time Platoon Chief in Kirkland Lake, her dedication to the fire service is […]
I WAS JUST LET GO FROM MY JOB. SHOULD I ACCEPT THE SEVERANCE PACKAGE? Some times a worker sees it coming for months. Other times, an employee is shocked to be let go. Whatever the circumstances, you absolutely need to take the time to read your proposed severance and to obtain legal advice. This need […]
What do insurance limits have to do with my claim? We might not talk to you a lot about insurance limits, but (with apologies to Willy Nelson) they are always on our mind. To cut to the chase, if we are going to succeed in our claim, we need three things: A serious injury A […]
What do we mean by Pain and Suffering Compensation? Technically, it is called “non-pecuniary” compensation. That means that it is meant to cover the kinds of losses which money really cannot make up for. If your face is disfigured in a car accident, if you suffer chronic depression following a fall, if your injuries have […]