The Toronto Star reports today on quiet negotiations to bring legal expenses insurance (LEI) to Ontario. DAS Canada is a subsidiary of a German firm which has successfully provided LEI to Europeans for a number of years, and they’re hoping that the Law Society of Upper Canada will approve of their plans to expand into the province.
LEI works much like other forms of insurance: an individual pays a yearly premium of $500 which would insure legal expenses up to $100,000. Certain areas like family law would not be included. Family LEI packages would allow a greater maximum; a driver’s LEI package at $100/yr would cover litigation for things such as traffic tickets.
Where LEI is potentially most beneficial is with respect to access to justice. The average civil trial costs $60,000; the average Canadian earns a little over $41,000 per year; and the maximum annual income for an individual to qualify for legal aid in Ontario is $7212. This leaves a broad swath of middle-class citizens who simply cannot afford access to the legal system. In a provincial report last year, UofT Law Prof. Michael Trebilcock stated,
How LEI would affect the average person’s desire to litigate remains to be seen. Increasing litigation does not seem to be an issue in the UK and Germany, where LEI is quickly becoming the norm. And LEI could also ease the burden on our crowded courts, because it is in the interest of insurance companies to settle rather than go to court.
It is abou time that such insurance is avalable in Ontario and Canada. I have been talking to many lawyers gunslingers, who have noting to do but said à charge $850.00 or $1,000.00 an hour. And I need $60,000.00 retainer before I look at the case”
This type of insurance is badly needed and as soon as possible. Justice John Morden (retired) from the court of appeal for Ontario said. The justice sistem is for the very reach and the very poor.”
Justice for all is only slogan, not the reality
P. Mladenov