Category: Uncategorized

Slip and Fall Claims: 10 Questions You Need To Answer

by John McKiggan

If you have been injured as a result of a “slip and fall” or “trip and fall” there are 10 questions that you should know the answer to before you call a lawyer. Knowing the answers to these questions will help the personal injury lawyer evaluate whether or not you have a claim that is worth pursuing.

10 Questions:

1. What was the weather like on the day that you fell?

Bicycle Helmets Save Lives – Prevent Brain Injury

by John McKiggan

I bought my son Liam a new bike this past weekend. He just couldn’t wait to get outside and go riding with his friends. But he had to wait while I made sure that his new bicycle helmet fit him properly.

Summertime is Bicycle Time

With warm weather and summer vacation the number of children on bikes increases dramatically. So do the number of children attending hospital emergency rooms with head injuries.

Class Action involving “disgraced” pathologist to proceed: NB Ct. of Appeal

by John McKiggan

Dr. R. Menon tried to stop a class action filed against him by patients whose test results were mis-read by Menon.

The New Bruswick Court of Appeal ruled last week that the class action can proceed.

I have been following this fiasco for the last two years. For more information you can take a look a some of my past posts:

Brain Injury Awareness: BIANS (Hfx) presents mini-film festival

by John McKiggan

June is Brain Injury Awareness Month.

Every year in Nova Scotia between 2200 and 3500 people sustain a brain injury through a variety of ways such as falls, motor vehicle accidents, strokes, near drowning and aneurysms. No one recovers 100% from a brain injury. Dealing with the effects of brain injury is a lifelong journey for brain injury survivors and their families. The Brain Injury Association of Nova Scotia works to enhance the quality of life for survivors and their families.

To promote Brain Injury Awareness Month, the Halifax Chapter of the Brain Injury Association is inviting the public to two special movie viewings this month in the Royal Bank Theatre at the Halifax Infirmary on Summer Street.

Supreme Court of Canda Refuses to Hear Appeal on N.S. Minor Injury Cap

by John McKiggan

Injured Victim’s Constitutional Appeal Fails

Today the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear an appeal of a decision that upheld the constitutionality of Nova Scotia’s cap of $2500.00 compensation for injured car accident victims deemed to have suffered a “minor injury”.

The Applicant MacDonald was involved in a car accident in November, 2003. She suffered soft tissue injuries to her neck, shoulders and back. Her insurance company claimed that she had suffered a “minor injury” under Nova Scotia’s new auto insurance provisions and offered a settlement that included the capped amount of $2,500 for pain and suffering.

Brain Injury Survivors Face Long Waits for Services

by John McKiggan

Survivors of traumatic brain injuries face long waits for treatment and rehabilitation services.

No Service the Norm

The president of the Brain Injury Association of Canada, Shirley Johnson, says that for persons who have suffered brain injuries shortages of programs, long waiting lists or simply no access to services at all, is the norm in most areas of the country.

Nova Scotia’s Minor Injury Cap: NDP Makes “Minor” Improvements

by John McKiggan

Nova Scotia has a cap on the amount of compensation that innocent victims are entitled to receive when they have been injured in a car accident.

I have posted before about the unfairness of Nova Scotia’s minor injury cap. For example, see Benefits of “Minor Injury” Cap Legislation does not Justify Discrimination

Promise to Scrap the Cap

John McKiggan invited to present to National Symposium on Class Actions

by John McKiggan

Osgoode Hall Law School’s National Symposium on Class Actions is Canada’s “premier forum for class actions debate”. The Symposium “brings together leaders from both sides of the bar as well as experienced judges and academics to share and explain the strategies and tactics at play in this form of high-stakes litigation”.

The conference is taking place at Osgoode Hall Law school April 29 and 30.

I am pleased to say I have been invited to speak to the conference as part of a panel discussing the top 10 class actions decisions of the past year.

Brain Injury Lawyer Explains New Rule for Children with Head Injuries

by John McKiggan

More than 650,000 children are seen every year in hospital emergency rooms across North America suffering from the effects of mild traumatic brain injury.

Important Tool

CT scans are an important tool used in diagnosing the severity of brain injury. The problem is that CT scans expose children to the harmful affects of radiation.