jmcleish@mollp.com
- Care needed when using ethanol-fuelled firepots: McLeish - October 5, 2019
- Government changes to auto insurance need to go further, says McLeish - April 5, 2019
- Brokers have duty to inform clients of insurance options - January 5, 2019
While a severe mediation backlog at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has been eliminated, a bottleneck is now being felt in the arbitration process, Toronto critical injury lawyer John McLeish tells Law Times.
In a recent report, auditor general Bonnie Lysyk said the province approved FSCO’s request two years ago for an additional $38.2 million over three years to hire outside alternative dispute resolution services to supplement the work performed by its own staff. At the time, the FSCO system was suffering from a mediation backlog issue, Law Times reports.
The issue has been solved, but personal injury lawyers say arbitration now involves a lengthier process, the article says.
Delay in getting dates
“There’s a sense in our office that there is a delay in getting dates for arbitration and pre-arbitration dates,” McLeish, a partner with McLeish Orlando LLP, says in Law Times.
A decrease in applications for mediation is partly responsible for addressing the backlog issue, and legislative changes to the statutory accident benefits schedule are likely the reason fewer applications were filed, the report says.
In the article, McLeish says he’s concerned about disputes that aren’t possible because of the legislative updates. He says many so-called “minor injuries” are anything but minor, but because medical and rehabilitation benefits are only $3,500, funds for caregivers and rehab professionals to help the injured are simply not available.
