Is Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer Right for You?

In today’s society, it is easy to dismiss injuries from accidents or claiming “there is nothing we can do about it”. Unfortunately, many people fail to realize that these injuries may permanently cripple their life and their enjoyment if left untreated. Combined with rising medical costs and expensive treatments, it is virtually impossible to pay for these costs since many injuries are not covered by the provincial or state insurance, popularly known in Ontario as the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). The government also cannot compensate for out of pocket expenses, lost earnings and general pain and suffering that an injured person goes through.

What many people don’t know is that injuries caused by accidents can result in possible financial settlement if you find the right legal representative to assist you in claiming damages. At Opara Law PC, as personal injury professionals, we can help you examine to the extent of liabilities from the other party that cause the injury, and further help you reclaim costs from medical expenses, treatments, lost earnings etc. Consider the following points when hiring a personal injury lawyer:

Is your Case Actionable?

One of the first hurdles is knowing whether your case is actionable, that is, whether you can sue or not. Personal injury can cover many different kinds of accidents such as motor vehicle accidents, faulty product injuries, assaults, slip and falls and many more. Most personal injury law is governed by a set of common laws known as torts. Without legal training, it is hard to differentiate which incidents are considered torts and allows victim to claim damages.  Here are a few tips to help you if you are unsure whether your motor vehicle accident, slip and fall, or personal injury is caused by torts:

Intentional Tort – if the injury was caused deliberately by another person, then there is a high possibility that the person doing the harm is liable for damages. There are many intentional torts that cross over to criminal law, hence it is important to know that tort and criminal law are two very different and distinct areas of law. A person who is found “not guilty” in a criminal proceeding may still find themselves in tortuous liability. 

Unintentional Tort– if the injury was caused solely by accident, you will have to consider all the circumstances that led to the accident. If someone was being reckless, it is possible to claim damages for negligence. If the person who did the harm did not safeguard themselves to prevent the accident from happening, that person may be held tortuously liable for the motor vehicle accident, slip and fall or personal injury.

In any case, if you are unsure whether your case is actionable or not, it is better to consult a lawyer. At Opara Law PC, we provide free consultations for all personal injury related matters, including motor vehicle accident, pedestrian accidents, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents, long term disability, short term disability, slip and fall, trip and fall, accident benefits claims, home insurance claims, air flight accidents, brain injuries, orthopedic injuries, chronic pain, wrongful dismissal claims, toxic mould exposure, automotive recalls, drug recalls, pharmaceutical warnings, asbestos exposure, mesothelioma, airline warnings, workplace suspensions, among others. As personal injury lawyer, we are skilled and trained professionals in recognizing laws regarding torts generally and personal injury in particular. Therefore, we can help you make the right decisions to address your personal injury concerns. 

Know Your Own Case

After a motor vehicle accident personal injury, it is easy to be confused about what to do. Motor vehicle accidents that lead to long lasting damage, also called catastrophic damages, such as loss of consciousness (coma) or broken limbs can be difficult to forget both physically, psychologically and emotionally. However, it is important to know the details of your personal injury no matter how minor the details may be. Here are some tips to consider when you want know more about your own case along with some sample questions:

Who? – Who are the parties involved in the incident? Is the person you are claiming damages from your employer? Your neighbor? Or someone else entirely? Are you the only person injured? Or were there other parties also injured as well?

What? – What exactly happened at the scene of the accident? What are some possible causes to the accident? 

When? – When did the accident happen? Did it happen at night or daytime? Was it snowing or clear? Was it raining or normal weather?

Where? – Where did the accident happen? Was the place a public or private area? Was the area cordoned off as dangerous? What is the closest intersection to the location? 

Why? -  Why did the accident happen? Was someone being neglectful or negligent of their duty? Did someone forget a particularly safety precaution? Did someone fail to do what they were required to do?

Being Realistic About Cost Recovery

While it is acceptable to be upset or angry at the parties that caused the injuries, it is not acceptable to use the legal system as a means of vengeance. The purpose of claiming damages from the other party is to recover the monetary amounts stemming from medical/treatment expenses, lost earnings and for a certain extent of pain and suffering from the injury. It is inappropriate to ask personal injury lawyers to claim additional damages that are unreasonable, especially if the lawyers have already calculated an amount for the case. Any sort of monetary claim will need to be justified in court and backed up with evidence.  Here is a list of things to consider when calculating the costs:

What is the extent of the injuries? – How much damage did you suffer from the personal injury? Grievous injuries are likely to attract more damages than minor injuries.

How long did it take for recovery AND rehabilitation? – A person may have to go through several months, if not years of recovery to resume their normal activities. It is wise to keep track and anticipate how much time you need to recover. 

How did the accident affect you psychologically? – Injuries (especially catastrophic injuries also called long lasting injuries) can be very traumatic to the personal injury victim or pedestrian. They might suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or acquire a phobia that can be related to the accident (one frequent example is recurring nightmares for those in serious car accidents and constant headache). It is important to note the state of your mental health. If there has been a recommendation for psychological evaluations, it is possible to claim additional damages for treatment.

Remember that if the claim is too ludicrous or exaggerated, it is possible for the courts to reduce the damages claimed even if the action was successful. On the other hand, the court can deem an unrealistic claim to be vexatious and dismiss the case altogether if it does not appear to have merit. Thus, it is important to be realistic, honest and forthright when calculating damages.

Helping the Lawyer Help You

If you are unsure of anything relating to personal injury, it is always better to ask your lawyer before proceeding to do anything. We are here at Opara Law PC to assist you and answer all your questions. A common misconception for the injured party is to feel entitled to damages. The circumstances leading to the accident plays an important role in determining whether the injured party is entitled to damages and what the amount of the damages should be. An injured party’s carelessness might result in contributory negligence, thereby reducing his recovery or completely shutting them out from recovering damages. Regardless of the sense of entitlement, the most important thing is to be consistent under the law. There are strict procedures that the lawyer must abide by to maximize the chance of success in your case. Even if you know something that might hurt your case, it is better to be candid about your facts and tell your personal injury so that they see what they can do to remedy the situation. At Opara Law PC, we strive to package your case to realize maximum damages for you.  

Ultimately, our personal injury professionals at Opara Law PC are here to help you claim the money that you deserve from your personal injury.  Let us help you better.

Employment Law Is An Important Part Of Business Law

Business law is one of the branches of the huge field of law. There are many things one has to keep in mind when starting a business; let it be a small or a large business. Breaking these laws may land you in deep trouble, so it is always advisable to have some basic knowledge of both small business law and business corporate law. With this knowledge, you are sure of being able to run your business smoothly without any hindrance from the law whatsoever!

One of the most important areas to consider in business law is employment law. If you don't comply with all the employment laws and regulations, it is highly likely that you will end up in lots of trouble! There are different laws that actually rule the employment basis of both the regular employees and the contract employees of a business. Some of the employment business laws that have to be met by you are FLSA, the Fair Labor Standards Act, The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, Americans with Disabilities Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1966 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963. However, these laws are not connected to the various state employment business laws that you may find to your business! These laws are a different thing altogether. To confirm that your business meets all the employment laws, it is always better to checkup with your HR department.To run a business, it is important to have a business permit or a license. If you do not have one, there is a high possibility of you having to shutdown your business and to pay hefty fines and penalties. Moreover, in addition to federal business law it is required that you meet the state business law regulations too. And if you have an international based
business, you have to be aware of the different international business laws and how they can affect your business, you and your bottom line. You at least have to meet the general international business laws, import laws, any specialized export laws and laws of the country you maintain business with.

Those running online businesses may be of the impression that there are no business laws pertaining to the internet. However, this is not so. There are many internet and online business laws that have to be followed to maintain any online business. The reason for these laws is that the internet explosion over the past decade has forced the government to introduce internet compliance laws to maintain some law and regulation over the internet. So if you by any chance run a website make sure that you abide the internet business laws. If you don't do so, there is a high possibility of your site being shut down and of you, in the mean time, facing criminal prosecution and huge fines.

Remember that it is not advisable for you to try and comply with all the business laws on your own. There are numerous laws, and the best mode of avoiding falling into any trap would be to get the help of some professional business law firm. These tips are just to give you an idea of the types of business laws existing. However, even if you do hire a business law firm, it is also better, and important for you to have some basic knowledge of business laws!

What They Can Do For You - Business Lawyers

Business lawyers and attorneys can advise you on how to properly structure your business, (be it through a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation), on how to deal with disputes that may have arisen during the course of your business operations, or on how to dissolve the business. With respect to the latter, it is worth mentioning that I have and am dealing with a number of business dissolution here in Toronto (it may be the poor economic times?). There are a number of issues which come up which you may not realize (i.e. unless you're a lawyer and you are trained on and deal with these things regularly). Typically, these issues include:

* Division of business assets.

* Responsibility for business liabilities - particularly the lease, supplier agreements, employment agreements, and tax obligations.

* Preparing the necessary paperwork (e.g. bookkeeping, taxes, government forms) to dissolve the business.

* Ensuring compliance with the business' internal documents (e.g. partnership agreement, corporate by-laws and resolutions, shareholder agreements, and articles of incorporation, etc.).

* Informing customers (both past and present), employees, and other stakeholders of what is happening with the business.

At the end of the day, you will likely need a number of documents and agreements prepared by a business lawyer in order to help oversee the business dissolution. For example, you should have a lawyer explain the various options and then draft some type of dissolution agreement for all the parties to sign off on. Next, you may need your lawyer to draft and/or negotiate terminate and release of liability agreements for landlords and suppliers, etc. Finally, your lawyer may be called upon to prepare the government forms to submit in order to dissolve the corporation. Finally, if business partners take issue with and dispute the steps along the way towards dissolution, then lawyers may be also called upon to try to negotiate a settlement or resolve the issues through litigation.

In any event, you should definitely consult a business lawyer before trying to do any of these things yourself. Doing so will save you time, money and aggravation in the long run and make sure that your rights are protected and your interests

Business lawyers and attorneys can also help you understand your legal rights and obligations with respect to your business. They can tell you if a particular course of action could be challenged by (1) breaching a private contract, (2) giving rise to a possible tort liability, and/or (3) violating a statute or regulation established by the government.

Source: Ezinearticles

Different Types of Law in Toronto Canada

Every citizen should be familiar with the Law of the Land. There is no excuse for not knowing the law. It can help a person to defend him or herself at a time of legal crisis. Even when you have not acted against the law, you might need to know the law in order to protect yourself from people who might violate the law. To know ones rights and privileges is not only beneficial, it is absolutely essential. You will never know when the information you have at your disposal might come in handy. Having it ready before any crisis strikes will help you take immensely wiser and more informed decisions which you will not regret later. Just as there are varied disciplines in the field of medicine, there is a wide range of divisions when it comes to law. For instance, everyone knows that you don't visit a general physician for a severe heart ailment. You want to consult a heart specialist in this case. Likewise, for every particular type of law, there are specific attorneys who specialize in that particular field. It really helps to search and identify the suitable attorney for your particular case, instead of heading to the nearest or most familiar attorney for every case.

Here are some of the different types of law that Toronto law firms can assist you in:

• Accidents and Injuries: Involved in an accident where you suffered personal injury?
•Business: Need corporate or commercial agreements? Need to have a lawyer help you do a transaction?
•Charities and Not-For-Profit: Need to establish a Not-For-Profit corporation or obtain charity status?
•Civil Litigation – Higher Court: Have a serious legal claim that needs to be litigated in the Superior Court, Divisional Court, etc.?
•Civil Litigation – Small Claims Court: Have a legal claim (e.g. breach of contract, negligence, etc.)
•Constitutional / Human Rights and Freedoms: Challenging a law or government action / inaction?
Criminal: Charged with a criminal offence? Appealing a conviction?

•Employment and Labour: Need an employment agreement? Unjustly terminated? Need to know your rights?
•Family: Going through a separation or divorce? Fighting to get custody or access? Dealing with spousal and child support?
• Government: Need to lobby the government? Need to resolve a dispute with a government agency?
•Highway Traffic Tickets: Charged with speeding or DUI? Need to fight traffic tickets?
•Immigration: Need to immigrate to Canada? Fighting against deportation?
•Insurance: Having difficulties with your Insurance company?.
•Intellectual Property: Need to register a copyright or trademark? Need help with a patent?
•Landlord and Tenant: Need a resolve a dispute? Need to know your rights?.
•Notary Public / Commissioner: Need to notarize or commission your documents?
•Real Estate: Need someone to facilitate your residential or commercial purchase, sale, or lease?
•Tax: Need help structuring your tax affairs? Need help resolving tax disputes with the Canada Revenue Agency?
•Wills, Estates and Trusts: Need a will? Need to update your will? Find out why having an up-to-date will is a must.

Try to consult Canadian Law firm and Toronto attorneys and bring an end to all your worries.