Win Cases and Set Precedents
Not only does Edson Legal work tirelessly on behalf of our personal injury and insurance clients, we have set precedents in court that have changed the law and made it easier for others to get just compensation.
For example, Barry Edson represented Raffaele Cugliari in the 1998 Cugliari v. White Ontario Court of Appeal motor vehicle injury case, in a ruling that the Toronto Star newspaper labelled as a “victory for car crash victims.” Download the article here.
The appeal court upheld a ruling that CPP disability payments are not designed to replace lost income, and so could not be deducted from insurance payouts awarded to motor vehicle crash victims in civil suits. Cugliari’s court victory was a significant victory for the plaintiffs and cost the insurance industry hundreds of millions of dollars.
Thousands of disabled people would be affected by this decision, said Barry Edson in a newspaper interview at the time. “A lot of these people are in poverty. We’re talking about people who suffer very serious injuries in auto accidents. . . . [This is] a major victory for Ontario accident victims in their fight for fair compensation.”
Prior to the decision of the Divisional Court in Uribe v. Wawanesa Insurance Company, insurers refused to consider previously undeclared income in the calculation of the amount of income loss benefits payable to an insured.