When it's Time to Get Help

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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Posted in: Class Actions, Personal Injury, Uncategorized

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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Posted in: Car Accidents, Pedestrian accidents, Uncategorized

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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Posted in: Bicycle safety, Uncategorized, Wrongful Death Claims

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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Posted in: Concussions, Uncategorized

“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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Posted in: Cell Phones and Texting, Distracted Driving, EndDD.org, Uncategorized

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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Posted in: Fatal Injury Claims, Uncategorized, Wrongful Death Claims

What is a Pecuniary Loss in a Nova Scotia Personal Injury Claim?

by John McKiggan

One of the most popular articles on this blog is one that I wrote in July 2010 “What is a Pecuniary Loss in a Personal Injury Claim?” The article has received thousands of page views since it was published so the topic is one that is obviously of some interest to people doing research on the internet. I thought that it would be worth updating the article and providing some more information.

Pecuniary Losses Defined

The online Law Dictionary defines a pecunairy loss as: “A loss that can be defined in money terms”.

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Posted in: Pecuniary damages, Uncategorized

Court Orders NBFL to Pay Interest on Litigation Loans in Knowledge House Claims: Why is this decision important to plaintiffs throughout Nova Scotia?

by John McKiggan

Justice Warner has issued his order for costs in favour of the successful Plaintiffs in their claim against National Bank Financial Limited (NBFL) relating to the collapse of Knowledge House Inc (KHI).

This is just the latest chapter in the ongoing litigation that has gone on for more than 10 years since Knowledge House Inc. collapsed in the fall of 2001.

Last year, Justice Warner ordered NBFL to pay the successful plaintiffs more than two millions dollars in compensatory damages and $200,000.00 in punitive damages as a result of share losses suffered by the plaintiffs after the collapse of KHI.

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Posted in: Cost awards, Uncategorized