I presented this paper at the fall conference of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association. With the implementation of the new Ontario automobile insurance legislation in September 2010 adjusters have increased discretion in determining whether an injured person qualifies for benefits. With added discretion comes added responsibility, however. The paper reviews the responsibilities adjusters have in reviewing automobile accident benefits claims, and how injured persons can be unfairly denied benefits.

To read this paper click here.

OTTAWA, December 16, 2011 - The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments:

The Honourable Suzanne M. Stevenson, a lawyer with Martin & Hillyer in Burlington, is appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario (Toronto) to replace Madam Justice A. Hoy, who was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal on December 1, 2011.

Madam Justice Stevenson received a Bachelor of Arts from McMaster University in 1988. She received a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1991, and was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1993.

Madam Justice Stevenson has practised with Robert Martin (now Martin & Hillyer) since 1993. Her main area of practise was family law and wills.

Madam Justice Stevenson was a member of the Canadian Bar Association, Halton County Law Association, Hamilton Halton Collaborative Law Practice Group and International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and an associate member of the Hamilton Law Association. She has been a guest lecturer on family law at Queen's University Law School, Trial Advocacy Course. She presented public seminars regarding the introduction of the Child Support Guidelines in Ontario in 1997. She was a member of Woodview (Mental Health and Autism Services) Board of Directors and Services Committee and has been involved in several community organizations.

This appointment is effective immediately.

Operation Red Nose is a free, designated-driver service, where a team of 3 volunteers drive you and your vehicle home. The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO), in partnership with the Ontario Safety League, sponsors the initiative provincially guaranteeing all Red Nose vehicles are properly insured for the 2011 program.

 This year The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) joined as a provincial sponsor.  The association's over 1300 members know all too well about the mess left behind by drinking and driving. It is their job to assist clients in picking up the pieces after an accident involving a drunk driver, a situation that no one should have to deal with.

In an effort to keep the streets safe this holiday season, lawyers from Martin & Hillyer Associates have volunteered their time to provide a safe ride home to Burlington residents who choose to enjoy the holiday season responsibly. Bruce Hillyer, a senior personal injury lawyer with the firm , was the founding President of OTLA.

He, along with, Stephen Abraham, David Hayward and James Page, all personal injury lawyers with the firm, will be volunteering to assist with Operation red nose.

The program runs on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. from Nov. 25 to Dec. 31 each year, but dates can vary from city to city.

Thousands of rides are provided each night of operation across the country.

The Burlington campaign will offer Red Nose service on Dec. 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 and 31 between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.

A team of three volunteers will meet you at your location and drive you and your vehicle to your destination.

This will be the third year for Operation Red Nose in Burlington. The city is one of 15 Ontario communities offering the service.

The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) will be holding its annual fall conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on November 10^th and 11^th, 2011. The programme is being chaired by Claire Wilkinson and Laura Hillyer of Martin & Hillyer Associates, together with other prominent Ontario counsel, Charles Gluckstein and Laurie Tucker.

The two day event is a learning tool for both lawyers and law clerks. Representing Martin & Hillyer Associates this year will be David Hayward, personal injury lawyer and Heather Wright, Law Clerk to David Hayward. David will be presenting on "The New Power of the Disability Certificate", and Heather will be presenting in the law clerks' program on the topic of "Affidavits of Documents-Naming Documents, Determining Relevance, Facebook".

Martin & Hillyer Associates is proud to contribute to OTLA's continuing legal education program and to contribute to the sharing of knowledge amongst personal injury lawyers working hard to protect innocent accident victims.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

It was cold, wet and grey, but that didn't stop the staff, family and friends of Martin & Hillyer Associates from running for the cure!

Thank you to Suzanne Stevenson for organizing the Martin & Hillyer Associates team for the 3rd year. Fundraising from team members totalled $4575.00!

Well done everyone!

On Monday June 20^th, 2011, the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA)  in partnership with the Brian Injury Association of Peel and Halton (BIAPH) held a Helmets on Kids campaign at the Halton Children's Safety Village in Oakville.

This event brings education and awareness to school aged children in a fun and exciting way.

Students from Montclair and Oakwood public schools in Oakville took a trip to the Halton Children's Safety Village where they received education on bicycle safety from Safety Village Coordinator at the Halton Regional Police Service, Cindy Lawrence, followed by being fitted properly with their own brand-new helmet. Then they were all invited to test their cycling skills in the safety village.

Laura Hillyer of Martin & Hillyer Associates in Burlington, coordinated the event for the 2^nd year in the Halton Region.

"Helmet use is key to injury prevention. This summer, with all the opportunities for outdoor activity throughout Ontario, we want to help ensure that children are wearing their helmets when participating in activities such as cycling, inline skating and skateboarding." said Ms. Hillyer, a personal injury lawyer, an OTLA board member and Vice-President of BIAPH.

Through generous donations from local law firms, enough money was raised to purchase approximately 175 helmets for this event.

Other partners for this event include; Halton Region Public Health, Rotary of Oakville and the Halton Regional Police.

Pictured below from left to right are: Laura Hillyer, Students from Montclair Public School, Cindy Lawrence and Terence Munn.

The Martin & Hillyer Associates 18^th Annual Charity Bowl-A-Thon was a HUGE success! The lawyers and staff at Martin & Hillyer & City Kidz extend our most sincere gratitude to the many people who contributed towards the success of this year's event.

We are excited and amazed to announce that the bowl-a-thon raised $21,041.28 for City Kidz!  This amount surpassed our fundraising goal of $20,000 and is the most ever raised at the annual bowl-a-thon. 

City Kidz will be using these funds to help increase the number of children and youth they impact each week from the over 2,200 they currently reach to 5,000 by 2013.  Their ultimate goal is to transform the lives of inner city children, break the cycle of hopelessness and end child poverty.  With events like this, they are one step closer.

For more information on City Kidz visit their website www.citykidz.ca.

One of our own, Laura Hillyer, was recently quoted in an article for the Law Times regarding the awareness of head injuries. Click the link below to read the article:

  Sports Stars Take Hit for Awareness of Head Injuries

Laura is also involved in the Helmets on Kids program run through the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association.  Click here to read about the 2010 event and Information regarding this year's event will be posted soon. 

On September 1, 2010, the Ontario Liberal government brought in more changes to our already much tinkered-with automobile insurance regime.      While some changes are positive for those who have been injured in automobile crashes, the majority of the changes are intended to save the insurance industry money, and by extension, deprive injured people of additional rights and benefits that were available previously under their policies.

Please click here to read the entire article.

On Friday, November 12, more than 400 members of the Bar and their guests gathered at Toronto's Four Seasons Hotel to honour OTLA founder, Bruce Hillyer and another outstanding lawyer at the Celebration of the Personal Injury Bar Dinner.  Read below for details about Bruce's honour as noted by OTLA.

Bruce Hillyer, in addition to founding the Association, has a lengthy and impressive record of service in the community and to the clients he's helped in a career that started over 35 years ago. A leader in the field of personal injury law, he has been consistently recognized as one of the best personal injury litigators in Canada by his peers.

Bruce spoke passionately about his career and in particular his involvement with Trial Lawyers Care, the largest pro bono project in the history of American jurisprudence. Bruce detailed the challenges and great personal satisfaction he gained in assisting iron workers from the Kahnawake first nation who, despite considerable health and safety risks, were among the very first to heed the call to assist with the clean up following the destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. Bruce proudly displayed the Mohawk warrior flag that had been given to him as a sign of the Mohawk nation's gratitude for assisting them in dealing with their many health claims following the 9/11 clean up.

Martin & Hillyer congratulates Bruce as one of OTLA's 2010 recipients at the Celebration of the Personal Injury Bar!