Uncategorized Archives - Page 3 of 29 - Halifax Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

June 29th, 2015

Canada Day is coming. Remember SUMMER FUN = SUMMER SAFETY!

Our senior associate Mark Raftus sent me this article and I thought it was good timing since Canada Day is this week and it marks the unofficial start of summer here in the Maritimes.

We all look forward to spending more time outdoors enjoying the warm weather and the summer activities we have waited so long to do given the long, hard winter we just endured.

Whatever your chosen activity: swimming, boating, cycling or relaxing outside on the playground or fields with your children there are precautions that should be taken so a fun day spent in the sunshine won’t have an unhappy ending.

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June 17th, 2015

McKiggan Hebert Awards Scholarship to Raise Awareness of Dangers of Distracted Driving

by John McKiggan

Distracted Driving a Growing Danger

Distracted driving is now the number one cause of deaths on Nova Scotia highways. In order to raise awareness of the dangers of Distracted Driving, McKiggan Hebert Lawyers has created an annual scholarship for a Canadian student who demonstrates academic excellence and a commitment to end distracted driving.

I have been a volunteer with EndDD.org, a nonprofit focused on ending distracted driving, for several years. My legal practice is dedicated exclusively to representing those who have suffered personal injurys. Many of those clients have suffered injury in car accidents caused by distracted driving.

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March 31st, 2015

Air Canada 624 Crash: Is a Class Action the Right Approach?

by John McKiggan

Over the last 72 hours new coverage in Nova Scotia has been dominated by stories involving the crash (or “hard landing” as Air Canada prefers to describe it ) of Air Canada flight 624.

Most of the coverage has revolved around how the crash happened, why it happened, and concerns about the delayed response to passengers who had to wait on the tarmac for rescue.

Class action being filed?

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February 5th, 2015

WEATHER WATCH – WINTER WALKING and DRIVING in NOVA SCOTIA

by John McKiggan

More winter weather on the way

Looks like we are in for another blast of winter tonight and tomorrow. Makes you wonder when it will end. Our senior associate Mark Raftus has been getting a lot of calls the last few days from people who have been injured due in part to the severe winter weather we have been having.

Mark has written this article to provide some advice to Nova Scotian’s on how to protect themselves from injury as we struggle through this latest storm. Take it away Mark…

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January 26th, 2015

4 Reasons to Hire a Lawyer Immediately after a Wrongful Death and Why you Don’t have to Worry about making a mistake

by John McKiggan

By Brian Hebert

I wrote this article after seeing news of yet another fatal injury in our Province. I was particularly saddened because the victim was a fellow cyclist and just a teenager.

It’s very difficult to focus on anything immediately after the death of someone you love. The grief is unbearable and all of a sudden there is so much to do: contacting the rest if the family, contacting g friends, preparing an obituary, making funeral arrangements, making insurance claims for funeral expenses, making visitation arrangements.

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December 23rd, 2014

PEDESTRIAN – CAR COLLISIONS: AN EPIDEMIC IN NOVA SCOTIA

by John McKiggan

“Are there more car-pedestrian collisions than usual in Halifax?”

I was having this discussion with my Senior Associate Mark Raftus recently. He had been doing some research on the topic and I thought his findings were interesting, so I asked him to post about it on this blog.

Take it away Mark…

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December 22nd, 2014

Contact Sports May Cause Brian Injury Even Without Concussions: New Research

by John McKiggan

Public Awareness

The past few years has seen a huge increase in public awareness regarding the dangers of concussions and how they are related to contact sports like hockey and football.

The turning point, I believe, was during the 2010-2011 NHL season when Sydney Crosby suffered a concussion as a result of hits to his head in two consecutive games. The injury put him on the disabled list for ten and a half months. However the symptoms returned the following season.

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December 19th, 2014

“Holding” a cell phone will get you fined for distracted driving in Nova Scotia: The Queen v. Cullen Edward MacDonald

by John McKiggan

Are you “using” your cell phone if you are just holding it?

That’s the question that was before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia this week. In a decision released yesterday: The Queen v. Cullen Edward MacDonald, Justice Chipman of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled on Section 100D (1) of the Motor Vehicle Act with respect to you what it means to “use” a handheld cellular telephone.

Texting and driving

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September 4th, 2014

Two not-so-secret weapons for ensuring fair compensation for families of wrongful death victims and how one family received $925,000

by John McKiggan

After reading about the three recent fatal accidents on Nova Scotia highways in the last two weeks, I was talking with my law partner, Brian Hebert about the challenges of pursuing wrongful death claims in Nova Scotia. Brian had some interesting views on the issue so I asked him to write an article about wrongful death claims for this blog. So take it away Brian…

Wrongful death claims in Nova Scotia

As a wrongful death lawyer my philosophy is simple. When someone causes the death of another they should compensate the victim’s family for the loss. Most advanced civilizations adopted this moral position centuries ago. To me death is the ultimate loss and deserves the highest compensation. Unfortunately not everyone agrees with me. Law makers, judges and insurance lawyers have kept damage awards low or non-existent for years. You’ve probably heard it said, “It’s better to kill someone than to injure them”. I hate this saying. But the fact is that the families of victims have been under-compensated for years. To fight this trend the wrongful death lawyer has two powerful but oft forgotten weapons.

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