We’ve always been actively standing up for the rights of the little guy.
History
Sarah Marshall Litigation Paralegal,
Jamie MacGillivray Managing Lawyer
Jamie MacGillivray started practicing personal injury law after he completed his articles at Boyne Clarke in Dartmouth where he trained with Matthew W. Napier, QC, one of Nova Scotia's pioneers in plaintiff personal injury law.
Jamie is from Stellarton, in Pictou County. This area is made up of five small towns; New Glasgow, Pictou, Stellarton, Trenton, and Westville, as well a number of villages. In 1994 Jamie left Boyne Clarke and returned home where he shared office overhead with a local lawyer. Jamie started working on criminal and family cases ending up in Court just about every day, and gaining valuable trial experience.
In Jamie's first two years of practice he undertook five jury trials completely on his own, the first one six months after being called to the Bar. However, Jamie continued to focus on personal injury litigation because of the appeal of championing the cause of the underdog, the David and Goliath battle of one person against the large corporate insurance companies. Jamie also enjoyed the challenging complexities of the civil system and the idea that plaintiff civil litigation lawyers are an individual's only recourse against the abuses of the powerful corporate and government interests.
In 1999, after five years of practice, Jamie had a staff of four paralegals and a thriving New Glasgow practice. At this point, he decided to devote his entire practice to personal injury and insurance law, and he stopped taking on criminal and family law cases. The office continued to expand and in 2003 an office was opened in Halifax due to the increasing number of clients from Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville, and the surrounding areas. After several moves, a permanent location was found on Quinpool Road. The firm has grown to six lawyers and ten full time staff all devoted to representing plaintiffs in personal injury and insurance law cases.
In the fifteen years since Jamie began practicing law insurance companies and the government have made inroads further restricting the rights of individuals. In 2003, for example, a "cap" was imposed on those injured in car accidents in Nova Scotia. Janus Siebrits of this firm was instrumental in the ongoing Charter challenge against this $2500 cap and in lobbying our Provincial government for fairness to its citizens. The cap challenge ultimately failed when it was turned down by the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa. However, the NDP did redefine the cap in April 2010. It is now much easier for a claimant to exceed the cap, and even if they do not, it is now incresed from $2500 to $7500.
Lawyers Janus Siebrits, Nicolle A. Snow, Jennifer Langille, Ali Raja and Melanie Young all work with Jamie representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases, typically those who have been seriously injured in a car accident, or by the fault of another, slip and falls, those being denied or having their long term disability benefits terminated. Those cases involving people injured at the fault of another include sexual abuse cases, neglect by financial advisors, and environmental cases.
The objective of MacGillivray Injury & Insurance Law is to continue to make money while at the same time empowering individuals who have been victimized by powerful corporate or government interests. Also, to work towards influencing the development of case and statutory law that favors people and the environment over shareholder profit. The firms scope of influence, and Court successes, are created by our clients."
