Ontario legal information · Ottawa and Eastern Ontario
The useful question is more specific than the page title.
Many claims resolve by negotiation or mediation, but a filed proceeding may be needed to preserve rights or obtain evidence.2
No lawyer can promise that the other side will settle on acceptable terms; trial risk should be explained in concrete terms.
Keep responsibility, available coverage and actual loss in separate columns.
Legal route
The retainer defines the work counsel is authorized to perform.
Insurance or benefit route
A lawsuit follows staged procedure before trial, including pleadings, discovery and often mediation.
Practical decision
The client decides whether to accept an offer after receiving advice.
Build the record from material another person can verify.
Claim strengths, weaknesses and missing evidence.
Medical and financial record sufficient for valuation.
Offers, counteroffers and reasons.
Litigation budget, timing, expert needs and trial risk.
Protect the next date without pretending every claim follows one clock.
Starting a claim to protect a deadline is not the same as choosing trial.3
Settlement can occur at many stages, but preparation and costs change over time.
How a personal injury lawyer may use this information.
General information explains the framework. Legal advice should connect that framework to the event, the people and insurers involved, the available records and the deadlines in the individual claim.
- Explain each procedural stage
- Prepare proportionately
- Give settlement advice
- Follow informed client instructions
Not every file requires every step or legal representation. The work should respond to the actual dispute, evidence gap or decision that is approaching.
Sources and legal references
These official sources provide the legal and procedural foundation for this page. Their current wording and the facts of the claim control.
View 3 sources
- Ontario — Rules of Civil Procedure
Ontario civil procedure, including parties under disability, discovery, settlement and trial.
Back to footnote ↑ - Ontario — Limitations Act, 2002
Ontario's basic limitation and discoverability framework, subject to important exceptions.
Back to footnote ↑ - Ontario — Negligence Act
Apportionment of fault and contribution between people responsible for a loss.
Back to footnote ↑