Personal Injury Lawyers in Halifax

Hurt in a crash on Highway 102, injured in a fall on an icy Halifax sidewalk, or told by an insurer that your disability benefits are ending? CLG Injury Law acts for injured people across Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville and Cole Harbour. We have had an office in Halifax since 2009, and we work only on injury and disability claims. The first conversation is free, and our fee only comes out of money we recover for you.

Do you have a personal injury claim?

You may have one if someone else’s carelessness caused or added to your injury. That could be another driver, a property owner, or a company whose product or premises were unsafe. A separate kind of claim arises when your own insurer refuses to pay benefits your policy promises.

You don’t need to work this out before you call. Being partly at fault usually reduces a claim rather than ending it, and some people who assume they have no case do have one. Others have a claim that isn’t worth the cost of pursuing, and we’ll tell you that too.

What a claim can cover

Compensation in a Nova Scotia injury claim can include:

• Income you have lost, and income you’ll lose in the future
• Medical and rehabilitation costs that aren’t otherwise covered
• The cost of care you’ll need going forward
• Pain, suffering and the loss of things you could do before

After a car accident, Nova Scotia caps pain and suffering for injuries classified as minor. The cap doesn’t limit lost income or medical costs, and insurers often apply the minor label before anyone knows how an injury will develop. Our page for Halifax car accident lawyers explains how this works.

The claims we see most in Halifax

Car, truck and motorcycle crashes. Your own auto policy pays accident benefits whoever caused the crash, and you can also claim against the at-fault driver. Our pages on car accidents, truck accidents and motorcycle accidents go through each one.

Pedestrians and cyclists. The peninsula’s busy crossings and bridge approaches put people on foot and on bikes right beside heavy traffic. Being struck by a car can give you a claim even if you don’t own a vehicle or carry auto insurance. See our pages on pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents.

Slips and falls. Whoever controls a property has a legal duty to keep visitors reasonably safe, including from snow and ice. Photograph the spot the same day, keep your footwear, and report the fall in writing. These cases turn on what the owner knew and did, and they’re harder to prove than most people expect. Falls on city property can also carry much shorter notice requirements, so don’t wait to ask.

Long-term disability. When an insurer denies your claim or cuts off your benefits, the letter usually isn’t the final word, but appeal deadlines can start running right away. Keep the letter and get advice before you respond. We cover this on our Halifax long-term disability page and in what to do when LTD benefits are cut off in Nova Scotia.

Serious injuries and loss of a family member. A brain injury, spinal injury or permanent disability can change what someone earns and needs for decades, so these claims take time to value properly. See our page on serious injuries. When someone dies because of another person’s negligence, Nova Scotia’s Fatal Injuries Act lets close family claim, including a spouse, common-law partner, parent or child. Don’t assume the usual two years applies. Read more about fatal injury claims.

Hurt at work. If your employer is covered by the Workers’ Compensation Board, you generally can’t sue your employer or a covered co-worker. If someone outside that system caused the injury, such as another driver, you may have a choice to make, and there’s a time limit on it. Ask before you decide.

How long you have to claim in Nova Scotia

Generally two years from when you knew, or should have known, about your claim, under Nova Scotia’s Limitation of Actions Act. There is also an outer limit of 15 years. Miss the deadline and the claim is usually over, however strong it was.

Some deadlines are much shorter. Accident benefits from your own insurer, claims involving a municipality, disability appeals and fatal injury claims can all run on tighter timelines.

If you’re not sure where you stand, call now. Checking your deadlines is free and doesn’t commit you to anything.

What happens when you call

You tell us what happened and how it has affected your health, work and family. We ask what insurers have said to you and look at any deadlines. Then we tell you whether the claim looks worth pursuing and what it would involve.

If you go ahead, we take over dealing with the insurers. We work on contingency, so you pay nothing up front and no fee if there’s no recovery. We set out the percentage and any disbursements in writing before you agree to anything.

A Halifax office, with Atlantic experience behind it

Our office is at 1959 Upper Water Street, on the same street as the Halifax Law Courts, where the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia sits. Most injury claims settle without a trial, but insurers treat a file differently when the firm on the other side is ready to take it there.

CLG Injury Law was founded in Moncton in 1987 and opened in Halifax in 2009. Partner Jennifer Garagan graduated from Dalhousie Law School and was called to the bar in Nova Scotia in 2013. We also have offices in Truro, Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton and Charlottetown.

Common questions about Halifax injury claims

How much does a personal injury lawyer in Halifax cost?

The first consultation is free. If you hire us, our fee is a share of what we recover, and there’s no fee if we recover nothing.

How much is my claim worth?

No honest lawyer can give you a number before seeing your medical records and understanding your work. The value depends on how serious and lasting your injury is, what you’ve lost, and what care you’ll need. We can usually give you a realistic sense of it once we have those details.

Should I talk to the insurance adjuster?

Tell your own insurer about the accident promptly, because your benefits can depend on it. You don’t have to give the other side’s insurer a recorded statement, so talk to a lawyer first.

Do you act for people outside downtown Halifax?

Yes. We act for clients across Halifax Regional Municipality, including Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville and Cole Harbour, and across the rest of Nova Scotia.