QTMG PROFILES: Mikolaj Grodzki

Perhaps you have stumbled across this article because you are looking for a lawyer. Specifically a personal injury lawyer. If so, we are pleased to introduce you to Mikolaj Grodzki, a partner at the law firm of Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP, personal injury lawyers Ottawa. Mr. Grodzki is first and foremost a compassionate man with a keen sense of justice. Having worked in the insurance defence industry he has well developed understanding of the challenges faced by injury victims and how the insurance industry can sometimes stand in the way of Justice for those injury victims. Mr. Grodzki now only works for injury victims and he largely confines his practice to motor-vehicle accident / car accident / motorcycle accident law. Why a confined practice? The fact is that insurance law in Ontario, as it relates to car accidents / motor-vehicle accidents is increasingly complex. To be highly effective and successful in helping injury victims it is Mr. Grodzki's opinion that you can not dabble in many different areas of law without losing the specialized knowledge that comes from extensive experience. That kind of experience is what every injury victim should have working for them. Asked about how an injury victim should hire a lawyer, Mr. Grodzki said that " the key is to meet me, let us talk about what happened, let me explain how I can help, and let me tell you how I am working for you." At the end of that meeting, "ask yourself if you trust me, did I answer your questions, and do you believe me". When you can answer those questions affirmatively you know you've found your lawyer. Mr. Grodzki has a flexible work schedule with extended hours. His three young children keep him and his wife busy at their home in Orleans, Ontario. Mr. Grodzki will often make house-calls and hospital visits to clients all over eastern Ontario. Sometimes it just isn't possible for a client to travel to his his downtown Ottawa office. Mr. Grodzki's Polish heritage allows him to speak with his clients in Polish though all legal work is necessarily completed in English or French. If you or someone you know needs a personal injury lawyer, consider giving Mr. Grodzki a call. He would be pleased to hear from you.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: TENANT'S CONFERENCE

At Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP, personal injury Ottawa lawyers, our clients are made up of all kinds of people from our community. As part of our community outreach, QTMG LLP lawyers seek out opportunities to provide free legal information to groups and organizations in need of help. Recently, Mr. Michael Thiele conducted a workshop at the Ottawa Tenant's Conference. The workshop, conducted by Mr. Thiele, at this year's conference was on maintenance issues within the residential complex and how to get them dealt with. In years past, Mr. Thiele as conducted workshops at this same Ottawa Tenant's Conference on the procedures of the Landlord and Tenant Board and how to represent oneself at a Board hearing to preserve a tenancy. How you may ask, is personal injury and landlord and tenant law intertwined? The fact is that many tenants suffer injuries on the grounds of their apartment complexes. The injury may be caused by the negligence of the landlord or even another tenant in the building. In these circumstances, QTMG LLP, is often asked to seek compensation on behalf of the injured tenant. Mr. Thiele is a leading lawyer in Eastern Ontario with respect to residential tenancies law. There isn't much that he has not dealt with in relation to landlord and tenant law as he represents both landlords and tenants in relation to all residential landlord and tenant issues. A relatively recent and interesting case that highlights the connection between personal injury law and landlord and tenant law is the case of Montgomery v. Van wherein the Ontario Court of Appeal held that a landlord can not escape the liability for injury caused by failed snow removal--- even if the landlord requires the injured tenant to be responsible for snow removal in their lease. The Court held that terms in a lease requiring the tenant to be responsible for maintenance are unenforceable being contrary to the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act. If you have questions or issues relating to Ontario Landlord and Tenant Law you may wish to consider contacting Mr. Michael K. E. Thiele for a free consultation.

Pitbull Attacks Man Shopping For Car--Dog Bite Debate

Once again, another tragic story of a pitt bull attacking a man who stopped to look at a car for sale is dominating the news in Ottawa, Ontario. The lawyers at Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP, personal injury lawyers Ottawa, know a lot about dog bites and unprovoked dog attacks. While there are many stories like the one in Gatineau, Quebec today, people should be aware that it isn't only large vicious breeds that attack people. Any breed of dog, regardless of how docile, friendly, and good natured they may be, represent a risk for people, especially children. As the debate about certain breeds and dog bites is reignited by the recent pitt bull attack, we would like to make a modest proposal to the politicians--they could make a difference. Our proposal is with respect to the victims, with respect to providing them with adequate remedies in the event of being attacked and suffering serious injuries. As lawyers, we at QTMG LLP have no better ideas about how to prevent dog attacks than most experts in the area. However, we do have experience as direct observers of the profound impact of the injuries caused by dogs gone mad. In short, dog bites / attacks can lead to profound disfigurement, loss of one or more of the senses in all or parts of the body, loss of parts of the body, and deep psychological scarring that will take years of treatment. In the extreme, death. A person who suffers a dog bite/attack can have their entire life changed, destroyed, wiped out in moments. The ability to work, to function normally, to earn a living, to live without pain, to attend school, to interact normally with family--all of these things can be destroyed by an unrestrained dog, someone's pet. When this happens the injury victim needs help and lots of it. Help in the form of medical treatment, counselling, income support, plastic surgery, tutoring, home care, someone to help take care of dependents including children and the elderly, and special care. Most of these items/services, delivered efficiently and in a timely manner, are exceedingly expensive. Most often, the victim lacks the resources to obtain these supports and services and therefore must make do with what is provided through various social welfare programs, their own ingenuity, family and their community. Query, is it right that a dog attack victims are left to fend for themselves in the aftermath of an attack? Is it right that there is uncertainty about victims receiving proper support? Certainly, many people think that a dog attack victim will have the right to sue and therefore get compensated by the dog owner. In theory, this works. In fact, there are many responsible dog owners who are insured. Through their insurance, the dog attack victim may be compensated. Unfortunately, there are many irresponsible dog owners--and they tend to own the dogs that attack people. These irresponsible dog owners are deadbeats who don't take responsibility for their own actions and in this writers view are a scourge on society. These irresponsible dog owners do not have insurance, rarely bother to leash their dogs, and basically set their dogs free on whoever is unlucky enough to be in the vicinity. Against these people, the dog bite/attack victim has no civil recourse. These irresponsible dog owners have nothing, no insurance, no assets, and consequently they are immune to a lawsuit. QTMG LLP's proposal. To make sure that all dog bite/attack victims have the ability to get the compensation they need to obtain the supports and services they need due to the injuries caused by a dog attack; the Dog Owner's Liability Act should be amended to require every dog owner in Ontario to carry pet insurance for the benefit of third parties. There should be severe penalties--i.e. large fines and forfeiture of animals if an owner is caught without insurance. Further, the law should establish a fund, similar to the fund created in the case of uninsured motor vehicle drivers, whereby an injury victim who is unable to recover against a dog owner, or an unidentified dog owner, is entitled to proceed against the Fund for compensation. The cost of the program may be borne entirely by dog owners through the mandatory licensing and insurance requirements in the amended Dog Owners Liability Act. Spread out, over thousands and thousands of dog owners the cost would be negligible in contrast to the benefit conveyed to a child who is profoundly scarred, a mother who has lost her ear(s), eyes, and father who has lost all sensation in a limb. Society insists that people are allowed to keep dogs as pets and accordingly society should make sure that people who are victimized by those pets are at least able to get needed supports and services to help them recover from their injuries. The program would be easy to set up, adjudicative Boards with appropriate expertise already exist (i.e. Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, Financial Services Commission Ontario). We believe that the proposal is reasonable and until we figure out how to prevent dog bites/attacks altogether, a dog owner funded compensation scheme is entirely reasonable and proper. QUINN THIELE MINEAULT GRODZKI LLP; personal injury lawyers Ottawa. Michael K. E. Thiele

WaterParks-Calypso Ottawa

As recently filed lawsuits demonstrate, the high adventure, speed and thrill of big waterpark rides, such as those at Calypso, carry some risk of injury. Big thrills, no matter how well engineered a ride is, can not be entirely risk free. At Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP, personal injury lawyers Ottawa, we get calls every day from people who are injured through misadventure. In reviewing the incidents that led to the injuries it is important to consider all of the relevant legal factors to determine if there is indeed any liability. Just because there is an injury does not mean that the park or property owner is liable for that injury. Accordingly, in assessing whether there is merit to a claim, it is important to consider how the park owner, in the recent Ottawa cases, was negligent, in breach of contract or in breach of statutory obligations and the duty of care to the park visitor. As a matter of law, it is not enough to simply rely on the "fact" of the injury to establish financial responsibility on the waterpark. At QTMG LLP, we analyze all aspects of a claim before committing our clients to a lengthy court battle. Expert reports, and in the case of amusement parks, engineering reports and government inspection reports are critically important to determine if indeed the park is responsible for the damages sustained as a result of the injuries. With a proper investigation of the underlying circumstances of any case, obtaining expert reports from appropriate professionals, TSSA reports, investigation reports, and supporting evidence of the extent of the damages suffered, it is often possible and even likely that cases such as those involving Calypso can be resolved without the need for stressful and costly litigation. If you, a friend, family member or colleague has suffered an injury through misadventure, call the lawyers at QTMG LLP for a free consultation.

USA and Canada sharing privacy information

New charter allows USA to share Canadian privacy information As readers of this blog will agree, the lawyers at Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP, personal injury lawyers Ottawa, are always keeping abreast of legal developments that affect the interests of their client. With that in mind, we report that on June 28, 2012, a privacy charter identifying principles of information sharing was jointly released by the United States of America and Canada. One of the principles of that charter is that either country may share personal information about citizens of the other country with a third nation. Accordingly, when a Canadian crosses into the USA over the border, personal information will be available for transfer to a third country when such disclosure is consistent with the law of the domestic country and its international agreements. For information transfer that is not subject to international agreements, the Americans will be required to notify Canada either before or immediately after the sharing of the information. There is no procedure outlined for denying the other country the right to share information. All 12 principles identified in the charter will be applied to the "Beyond the Border Action Plan," a privacy agreement developed between the two nations in November 2011. When information about mental health is released, it can have consequences for people with mental health conditions or a mental health condition history. The Police Records Check Coalition (PRCC) has documented cases where individuals were denied entry at the USA border because information about their mental health was released to border officials. For more information, see www.mentalhealthpolicerecords.ca. Read the full "Statement of Privacy Principles by the USA and Canada" at www.publicsafety.gc.ca.

Statues of Justitia and Veritas Supreme Court of Canada

These statues of Justitia (Lady Justice) and Veritas (Truth) are located outside of the Supreme Court of Canada building in Ottawa, Ontario Justitia, in Roman mythology is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Veritas, meaning truth, was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn and the mother of Virtue. Note that Justitia, in this depiction, is not blindfolded.

Supreme Court of Canada building

Construction of the Supreme Court of Canada began in 1939. The cornerstone was laid by Queen Elizabeth, consort to King George VI. The Supreme Court building, as well as the Quebec Court of Appeal, were designed by Montreal architect Ernest Cormier. The building is a historical site and is located west of the parliament buildings at 301 Wellington Street, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

A view of the Supreme Court of Canada from the back.