Turn on a television or radio and chances are it won’t be long before you’re bombarded with messages from personal injury lawyers telling you that if you’ve got a claim, they can get you the money “you deserve”.
What was once an American phenomenon has rapidly spread across Canada too – and with it brought a heap of difficulties for insurers as the advertisements appear to have perpetuated a blame culture and a plethora of unfounded lawsuits and attempts at fraudulent claims.
However, now that could be about to change with CBC reporting on a private members’ bill from former Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak which aims to curtail “less ethical” tactics.
Hudak has stepped down as an MPP but is still hoping that the Protection for Motor Vehicle Accident Victims bill will be pushed through. He told the
Canadian Press that growing up on the border with Buffalo he always thought that the most famous people from that city were personal injury lawyers Cellino and Barnes – and now he believes this culture has spread across Ontario.
The issue is not limited to a one man gang, either. Recently, CBC reports The Law Society of Upper Canada has been studying the increasing level of advertising and found some lawyers and firms were advertising mainly for referrals.
“These firms engage in mass advertising campaigns both in order to take on certain cases internally, and in order to earn revenue by referring certain cases out to selected licensees for a referral fee,” the law society wrote in an interim report.
“Referrals to the highest bidder might not be based on the competency of counsel, or made to counsel with requisite expertise.”
If successful, Hudak’s bill would ban referral fees in auto insurance cases except on successful completion of claims.
However, the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association has described Hudak’s bill as “simplistic and frankly misinformed.” President Adam Wagman states that part of the bill – Hudak’s proposal of placing a cap of 33% on contingency fees - would actually raise some fees.
“The problem with a cap is, as we know from simple economics, caps end up becoming targets,” he told the
Canadian Press. “So right now you’ve got a very competitive environment in which, depending on the type of case, people can have contingency fees that are less than one-third.”
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