Litigation
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The main area of practice of Miskin Professional Corporation is civil
litigation, which is basically law suits involving claims for money. Murray Miskin spends most of his
time acting for parties claiming in civil cases brought in the Ontario Courts.
Michelle Brown is working exclusively in civil litigation
in the insurance area. Michelle did insurance defence work before joining Miskin
Professional Corporation 2 years ago. Our work is
mainly in the Ontario's Superior Court of Justice in bringing civil claims for money
damages. We do not handle Small Claims Court cases. Litigation is an expensive process and so if you hire us to defend a
law suit you will be billed regularly at hourly rates. Law suits of under
$10,000 are handled by the Small Claims Court where lawyers are not necessary.
In our experience such claims are not economically handled with lawyers
involved. Often insurance is available to cover claims that may be brought
against you and we will, when consulted, look into that. If you wish to bring a
claim the timing of our bill is often based on timing of recovering money in the
lawsuit. Most of our clients are regular people, without a lot of money, who
can not afford the luxury of litigation. Sometimes litigation is a necessity.
When it is appropriate we will advise you to settle and how to keep costs under
control during the process. While we are a small community firm, most of our
litigation is fought against the largest law firms in Canada and we do not
hesitate to take on a claim we believe to be reasonable and just.
CONTINGENCY FEES AND CLASS ACTIONS: More often than defending law suits we act on behalf of individuals and small business people suing to collect money due to them. Often we can arrange to collect our fee from the proceeds of the law suit when it is complete. In personal injury cases we normally do not charge a fee until a successful recovery is made on our clients' behalf. This means anyone with a good personal injury claim with significant damages can come to us and not be restricted by lack of financial resources. Sometimes this approach may not be appropriate in risky cases where we do not believe success is assured. Usually we will advise clients not to proceed with high risk claims which may end up costing more than they can achieve. We ask clients to pay the expenses of a law suit we bring on their behalf through retainers from time to time as needed and if they are able to pay. For large cases involving many people with a claim against one company or individual who has harmed many or the maker of a particular harmful product such as the drugs Vioxx and Bextra. These cases involve all risk and expenses being with the lawyer who bears the risk of carrying a speculative case. For this type of case known as Mass Tort Litigation we are now charging contingency fees of 25% to 35% of recovery which we share with other lawyers working with us. The larger percentage usually applies when we are working with lawyers in the United States or if much work will be needed for an anticipated small recovery. For the Vioxx claims we are working with a firm in New Jersey where the law sets the contingency fee at one third of total recovery. In order to recover from US manufacturers cases like Vioxx and Bextra requires the co-ordination and co-operation of lawyers who will split the fee with us. While our 35% may seem high many of the US lawyers charge 45%. Contingency fees are now legal in Ontario and regulated by the Law Society of Upper Canada. We are developing a system which will bring in that type of arrangement for individual cases in the near future. Feel free to arrange a no cost and no obligation appointment to discuss litigation matters before you proceed. Our first free consultation will be for as much time as necessary to understand and provide an opinion on the case and is not necessarily the usual first half hour as many lawyers offer. We are frequently consulted by individuals including lawyers as for second opinions on law suits which are in progress or to review settlement proposals. SETTLEMENT OR TRIAL: Usually it is better to settle on the best terms rather than go through the stress, expense and often years it takes to get a case to trial. Trial results are uncertain and there is much risk involved especially where there is a jury. Court rules related to costs and offers make the risk much higher to the point where few cases actually go to trial. When it appears appropriate we encourage settlement through negotiation or mediation. When settlement can not be achieved we consider the alternative process of arbitration which is usually cheaper, faster and less uncertain than court. Some cases just can not settle out of court and when that happens, we, unlike some litigation lawyers, are not afraid to take a case to trial even if it is risky. Insurers and their lawyers know that we do not back down when claims are denied and usually we can find a reasonable settlement. Our good reputation is based on years of litigation including considerable trial experience, positive client results, knowledge of the court system and the persistence which does lead us sometimes to trial, the Ontario Court of Appeal and beyond.
Murray Miskin is widely recognized as a Canadian pioneer in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution both for mediation and arbitration. He is recognized by the legal profession nationally through a leadership role in the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), and for his expertise in the fields of Insurance law, Civil Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Murray serves as Chair of the CBA's National Section Council and is on the CBA Board of Directors and Finance Committee. Through his long involvement with the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now called the American Association for Justice or AAJ) Murray is well known among US personal injury lawyers. He interacts regularly with the AAJ leadership and is regularly contacted for advice on Canadian law and referrals from American lawyers. Michelle Brown is a member of AAJ and is active in the AAJ's minority caucus. Michelle attended her first AAJ convention in the summer of 2007 in Chicago and will attend this year's convention in Philadelphia. Our lawyers belong to, and are both active in the Canadian Bar Association and the Advocates Society. Put our experience and network of contacts to work for you.
Michelle Brown If you wish to consult us on a litigation matter please call the office to arrange a telephone initial case review and then schedule an appointment with Murray or Michelle for a free first meeting to discuss your case in detail. |
Murray
H. Miskin