Personal Legal Solutions

Amita had been a hard working employee for over ten years. When her company was bought by another, she was unfortunately let go. Amita was offered the statutory minimum for payment in lieu of notice, and was advised that her employer intended to enforce a clause in her contract which limited her future employment opportunities for 3 years.

Unsure what to do, Amita called the Legal Helpline and a lawyer explained what her rights are under the provincial labour laws. Amita’s information was also passed to our claims team and a claim was opened. An experienced employment lawyer was assigned to defend her legal rights.

It took a couple months of negotiations, but the lawyer was able to double the value of Amita’s termination package and most importantly, cancel all post-termination restrictions. She could now work in her home province and she also saved $3,500 in legal fees.

Marco works at a local bar, where he escorted an unruly drunk patron out of the premises one night. The next day, the patron complained to police that he was assaulted by Marco. The police were waiting for Marco when he showed up to start his next shift, whereby they arrested and charged him with a criminal offence.

Marco immediately called the Legal Helpline and a lawyer promptly advise him of his rights under this distressing situation. Marco’s information was also passed to our claims team and a criminal defence lawyer was immediately assigned to represent Marco.

The appointed lawyer represented Marco throughout the criminal proceedings and eventually Marco was acquitted of the charge. Marco was relieved as he had no criminal record before this unfortunate series of events and he saved $8,000 in legal fees.

Abdul was running late for work when he was pulled over and ticketed for making an unsafe left turn. The charge would cost him $110 and two demerit points, as well as affecting his vehicle insurance premium. Abdul believed that he had made an honest mistake and that the ticket was unfair.

Abdul felt frustrated so he called the Legal Helpline to see what he could do. He was told his situation would be passed to the claims department for review. This was a claimable legal event, so legal representation was assigned to handle disputing the ticket on Abdul’s behalf.

The assigned lawyer successfully defended Abdul in traffic court, as the charge was completely withdrawn. Abdul did not even have to take time off work, as the lawyer handled it all for him and he saved over $750 in legal fees.

While Peter was away on a family vacation, his neighbour put up a new fence between their properties and to his surprise - it was built 1.5 feet onto his property. Peter talked to his neighbour as soon as he saw what happened, but the neighbour adamantly denied it was built on Peter’s property and refused to move it.

Peter was disappointed his neighbour was not being rational, so he called the Legal Helpline and a lawyer was assigned to handle this on his behalf.

The appointed lawyer contacted the neighbour to advise of the trespass. The neighbour still refused to accept that the fence was built on our Peter's property and hired his own lawyer, which necessitated getting copies of the plans and deeds from the land registry, then asking a surveyor to attend and comment on the location of the fence. The surveyor agreed the fence was not built on the property line, and when presented with the evidence and the threat of litigation, the neighbour eventually agreed to move the fence back to the property line. Peter saved $4,000 in legal fees.

Janice was walking her dog, when she passed by a home renovation underway in her neighbourhood. Unfortunately, while walking past the job site, a plumber’s van rapidly backed out of the driveway and struck her.

Janice sustained multiple fractures which required emergency surgery and an extended recovery away from her veterinary practice.

Janice called the Legal Helpline to begin the process to pursue her legal rights. A personal injury lawyer was appointed, who immediately began negotiations with the plumber’s auto insurer. The assigned lawyer successfully negotiated a settlement of $300,000.

Wade received a letter from CRA advising his tax returns would be audited. In particular, they contested numerous deductions for caregiver and transit expenses made during 2015 and 2016 and reduced them by $23,000.00, leaving him with a large tax bill.

Wade first called the Legal Helpline to explain the situation. That information was passed along to the Claims Team where he was appointed a tax lawyer who filed a notice of objection with the CRA and represented Wade’s interests throughout the CRA’s internal appeals process.

The tax lawyer successfully proved to CRA that the deductions were valid, and the assessment was reversed, resulting in a credit to the insured’s account at the CRA while also saving $10,000 in legal fees.

Jenn purchased a dream family Caribbean vacation at a 5 star resort through a travel agent. When she arrived, the resort was far from what was promised. To her surprise, it was a 2 star facility that was infested with insects, ruining what was supposed to be 7 days of family fun.

Upon her return Jenn called the Legal Helpline and a claim was opened to help pursue her legal rights. A lawyer was assigned and handled all communications with the travel agent.

Three weeks later, the lawyer recovered 67% of Jenn’s expenses. She saved $1,500 in legal fees and was thankful that her Personal Legal Solutions policy was able to make things right for her and her family.