Who Needs Legal Expense Insurance?
Access to justice has become a political hot potato in Canada. Given the high cost associated with retaining legal counsel, the vast majority of Canadians cannot afford a lawyer. Our current legal aid system only provides support to the poorest of Canadians. Even corporations struggle to budget for the high cost of legal services for catastrophic events.
With its low cost premium, Legal Expense Insurance means that you are not facing huge legal costs at the same time as you are dealing with a conflict. Legal costs for actions brought against you can easily climb to $ 100,000 or more. Having legal representation when a conflict arises has proven to help mitigate problems. This assists all parties to reach a suitable compromise without costly settlements or long, drawn-out court cases
When asked, “Who gets access to justice?” Kenneth A. Filkow, former chairman of the Manitoba Human Rights Commission (1988-2001), said, “The rich and sometimes maybe the poor, but not the people in between. They’re foreclosed from the system.”
Ontario's Attorney General, the Hon. Michael Bryant, identified access to justice as a major issue for the Liberals in October 2004. "A large segment of the population is too poor to hire a lawyer but not poor enough for legal aid," said Bryant. "This fact has profound consequences for access to justice."
Meanwhile, the access to justice issue is gaining increasing attention across the country. The January 2005 issue of Canadian Lawyer featured an article by Philip Slayton entitled, "Access to Justice? Forget it!" Slayton cites a 1996 Fraser Institute study that found in 1993, government was responsible for 54% of all civil justice expenditures, business for 35%, while consumers only had an 11% share of the legal pie. The problem is that the high cost of legal fees is beyond the scope of most average Canadians.
