Personal Injury and Accident Victims Protection Act, 2017 Colle, Mike — Bill 165 (41st Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 165, 41-2

Ontario — Bills

role="main" class="main-container container js-quickedit-main-content" id="main-content">

Bill 165, Personal Injury and Accident Victims Protection Act, 2017

Colle, Mike

Please select

View bill

Status

Debates

Acts affected

Original

[41] Bill 165 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill amends the Law Society Act to prohibit

licensees from soliciting, accepting or paying a referral fee in respect of a

personal injury claim. The amendments also prohibit licensees from referring a

client with a personal injury claim without their express written consent and

without maintaining confidentiality. Advertisements offering legal

representation with respect to personal injury claims must be submitted to The

Law Society of Upper Canada for approval. Contravention of these new provisions

may result in a fine of up to $100,000.

The

Bill also amends the Solicitors Act . If a solicitor

enters into a fee agreement with a client, the agreement must disclose how the

fee is calculated in a clear, comprehensible and prominent manner. In any new

contingency fee agreement, the total amount to be paid to the solicitor as

compensation for representing the client in the proceeding is limited to no

more than 25 per cent of the award. Any amount paid to the solicitor in excess

of that percentage must be reimbursed.

Bill 165 2017

Act to amend the Law Society Act and the Solicitors Act

with respect to matters related to personal injury claims and client agreements

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Law

Society Act

Subsection 1 (1) of the Law Society Act is amended

by adding the following definition:

"personal

injury claim" means a proceeding for loss or damage from bodily injury or

death; ("demande d'indemnisation pour lésions corporelles")

Section 26.1 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

personal injury referral fee

(7.1) No

licensee shall, directly or indirectly,

(

a) solicit

or accept a referral fee from another licensee in exchange for directly or

indirectly encouraging or otherwise arranging for a client to retain the other

licensee to receive legal services with respect to a personal injury claim; or

(

b) pay

a referral fee to another licensee in exchange for having the other licensee directly

or indirectly encourage or otherwise arrange for a client to retain the

licensee paying the fee for the purpose of receiving legal services with

respect to a personal injury claim.

personal injury referral without written consent

(7.2) No

licensee shall, directly or indirectly, encourage or otherwise arrange for a

client to retain another licensee to receive legal services with respect to a

personal injury claim unless,

(

a) the

client has given his or her express written consent for the referral; and

(

b) the

licensee keeps any information concerning the business and affairs of the

client acquired in the course of the professional relationship in strict

confidence, except as may be permitted by the written consent.

personal injury advertising without approval

(7.3) No

licensee shall advertise his or her practice in a way that contravenes

section

26.4.

(1) Subsection 26.2 (1) of the Act is amended by adding "Subject to

subsection (1.1)" at the beginning.

(2) Section

26.2 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Contravening

certain provisions

(1.1) Every

person who contravenes subsection 26.1 (7.1), (7.2) or (7.3) is guilty of an

offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $100,000.

(3) Subsection

26.2 (4) of the Act is amended by striking out "subsection (1)" and

substituting "subsection (1) or (1.1)".

The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Advertising

Limitations

on personal injury advertising

26.4

(1) No

licensee shall, directly or indirectly, advertise in a manner that offers legal

representation with respect to personal injury claims unless the advertisement

is approved by the Society under subsection (2).

Approval

of advertisement

(2) The

Society shall review any advertisements submitted for its approval in

accordance with the by-laws and approve them if,

(

a) the

advertisement complies with the code of professional conduct; and

(

b) the

advertisement does not contain any false or misleading awards, testimonials or

statements.

Subsection 62 (0.1) of the Act is amended by adding the following paragraph:

25.1 governing

the review and approval of advertisements under subsection 26.4 (2);

Solicitors

Act

Section 16 of the Solicitors Act is amended by

adding the following subsection:

Fee

disclosure

(1.1) The

agreement shall disclose, in a clear, comprehensible and prominent manner, the

means by which the remuneration for legal services to be paid to the solicitor

is calculated.

(1) Subsection 28.1 (4) of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Written

agreement

(4) A

contingency fee agreement shall be in writing and shall disclose, in a clear,

comprehensible and prominent manner, the means by which the part of the

remuneration for legal services to be paid to the solicitor that is contingent

as described in subsection (2) is calculated, including the percentage used if

the agreement involves a percentage of the amount or of the value of the

property recovered in an action or proceeding.

Cancellation

by client

(4.1) A

client who has entered into a contingency fee agreement may, without any

reason, cancel the agreement within 10 days of entering into it.

(2) Section

28.1 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

Maximum

total compensation, personal injury award

(5.1) If

a contingency fee agreement involves a percentage of the amount of damages

recovered in a proceeding for loss or damage from bodily injury or death, the total

amount paid to the solicitor as compensation for representing the client in the

proceeding, including any other fees charged by the solicitor, shall not be

more than 25 per cent of the amount or of the value of the property recovered

in the action or proceeding, however the amount or property is recovered.

Reimbursement

to client

(5.2) If

a solicitor representing a client in a proceeding described in subsection

(5.1) receives total compensation in respect of the proceeding that exceeds 25 per

cent of the amount or of the value of the property recovered, the solicitor

shall reimburse the difference to the client.

Application

(5.3) Subsections

(5.1) and (5.2) apply to contingency fee agreements entered into on or after

the day the Personal Injury and Accident Victims

Protection Act, 2017 receives Royal Assent.

Commencement

This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

The

short title of this Act is the Personal Injury and

Accident Victims Protection Act, 2017 .

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

October 4, 2017

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

October 4, 2017

Committee

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent

Acts affected - Bill 165

Most Ontario public acts are available electronically; to view copies of the Acts to be amended by this bill visit e-laws

Law Society Act

Solicitors Act

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Was this page helpful? Yes , I found this page helpful. An optional survey will open in a new tab. No , I didn’t find this page helpful. An optional survey will open in a new tab.

Back to top

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 165, 41-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p41 s2 bill 165 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	cd78e029954e5edb87eb588646ca30be10b42ece

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (html).