Bogoroch & Associates ‘prepared to do whatever it takes’ to provide access to justice

Greg Greenberg  00:00:06 

Hello and welcome to Canadian lawyer TV. I'm Greg Greenberg from Key Media and today we're speaking with Richard Bogoroch, Founder and Managing Partner at Bogoroch & Associates, as well as Heidi Brown, a Senior Partner at the firm. Bogoroch & Associates was recently named one of Canadian Lawyer's, Top Personal Injury Boutiques, and today we're going to discuss the industry and the achievement. Howdy, Richard, thanks so much for joining us today. 

Richard Bogoroch  00:00:31 

Thank you very much. 

Heidi Brown  00:00:33 

Thank you for having us. 

Greg Greenberg  00:00:35 

So first off, congratulations on the recognition. So can you tell me Richard, what does it mean to you to see your firm be named one of the Top Personal Injury Boutiques? 

Richard Bogoroch  00:00:45 

Well, it's very gratifying. And we're very appreciative that our colleagues have recognized us as one of the leading Personal Injury boutiques. But at the same time, we're very humbled. And every day we will work very hard to be worthy of that accolade. What's most important to us is providing our clients with a really outstanding legal representation with excellent client service, and ensuring that we communicate often with them that so that they know what's going on with their case at every step of the litigation process. 

Greg Greenberg  00:01:19 

And Heidi, what is Bogoroch & Associates bring to the table that sets the firm apart that makes you stand out?  

Heidi Brown  00:01:27 

Thank you for the question, Greg. Actually, this year, our firm will be celebrating its 25th anniversary, and I've been honored to be associated with Bogoroch & Associates since its inception in 1999. Over the past 25 years, it has become clear to me that our firm is unique in that we are prepared to do whatever it takes to provide access to justice in a timely and prompt way for our clients. Delay is very bad for civil litigants, and particularly, are very seriously injured people who lacked the financial resources to look after themselves and their families and get better, even before the pandemic and so much more. So now the justice system is simply not functioning the way that it should and it's fraught with delay. cases that are ready for trial are often scheduled and for many, many years in advance and trials are are even getting canceled at the last minute due to shortage of judges. Defense Counsel don't help matters by delaying even further the important steps in the litigation like discoveries in mediation. So what really sets us apart? Greg is we are absolutely committed at our firm to using every legal tool in our arsenal to prevent delay, and advanced cases promptly. By getting court ordered timetables and advocating for early trial dates. The key to successful results is aggressive advocacy to prevent delay. And that is what I really think makes our firm special and unique. 

Greg Greenberg  00:02:55 

Can you give our viewers a short overview of some of the accomplishments that you're most proud of? 

Heidi Brown  00:03:01 

Over the years, we have been very fortunate to try cases that have moved, we believe have moved the dial, particularly in medical malpractice, on the issue of causation. And there's a body of case law that has emerged such cases as surgery do is one that really stands out to me. We have trained, excellent group of young lawyers who are now taking the lead and we're passing the torch so that our litigation department is stronger than ever. I'm also very proud of the advocacy that we have done the volunteer work and the giving back to the profession, that Richard has done chairing so many conferences. Over the years, I have done so as well. And the philanthropic work that our firm has done across the board with various different law schools to try and train the next generation of lawyers through clinic work, and providing scholarships so that we can see the next generation really step up. 

Greg Greenberg  00:04:14 

And Richard, we all know that things can get heated in any business and especially the legal arena. So how important is it to have compassion in your work? 

Richard Bogoroch  00:04:26 

It's very important. We have compassion for our clients who have endured a great deal, whose lives have been totally up ended, in many cases devastated as a result of medical and hospital malpractice. So we're very, very much aware that we have the great honor of representing clients, but it's their case, and they're going through a terrible ordeal. All we try to bring to the table is understanding. We don't We can never know what they're going through. But we can try to understand and empathize with them. about the difficulties that they face. And when we try and put ourselves in their position, what they're the concerns that they have. And it makes us we believe, stronger advocates. Because we know that it's not just a case we're dealing with a person or many times families whose lives have been totally altered, devastated, as a result of, say, a hospital and medical malpractice. So compassion is very important. In addition to compassion and understanding, we have to give them firm direct, clear and straight answers about the strengths and weaknesses of their case. So we have to, at the same time under trying to understand and appreciate what they're going through, but at the same time, give him very strong, firm, clear and direct advice and information about their case. 

Greg Greenberg  00:05:53 

And then finally, Richard, you've been providing these services to clients for a long time. How was the industry and Bogoroch evolved over the years?  

Richard Bogoroch  00:06:03 

Well, let's just talk about the legal profession. Right now, the legal profession is facing tremendous delay, tremendous delay, impacts access to justice, what people who have been harmed want and who are seeking legal advice, they want to get timely resolution, they want their case to get to court or to be resolved by way of settlement in a reasonable period of time. Today, cases are taking five, six and seven years to get to court. That's unacceptable. The vast majority of cases and dealing with children, it's sometimes does take longer, until you have a full appreciation of the extent of the disability and their and the impact on their employability. But in the vast majority of cases, that delay is a major hardship that people are without funds. And it's particularly they have a meritorious case without funds, without with tremendous uncertainty. And the delay is adding in my opinion to the uncertainty that they face. What everybody wants, is a timely resolution. If the case is going to court, they know one way or the other, are they going to win are they going to lose but in a reasonable period of time, the long delay even to bring motions or proceedings in a lawsuit takes a long time. And all of us have to work better, we're in a different way to help bring about change to the legal system so that it's more accessible. Accessible just doesn't mean you can hire a lawyer, it means getting your case to court in a reasonable time and relieving you of some of the tremendous anxiety, strain, financial and emotional that you face every day waiting for your case to be resolved. Now how our firm has resigned, has evolved. It's a good question. We're a strong proponent of technology. We've been paperless for many, many years. We've you know, even though when COVID came, we had already been set up all the lawyers have been working remotely for years. So it wasn't a major transition to transition to remote work. So we have the infrastructure in place because we were been a strong proponent of remote working for many, many years. But we leave but we believe using technology as effectively as we can to assist in the delivery of legal services, as I say. So we've been paperless for for well over a decade. And we enjoy having, you know, the I think pretty robust systems or a law firm. And I've been a strong proponent, as I say in technology and we continue to invest and believe in the use of technology to assist us in providing a high level of legal service. 

Greg Greenberg  00:08:45 

Richard, Heidi, it's been a pleasure chatting with you. Congratulations again on being named one of Canadian Lawyer's Top Personal Injury Boutiques. 

Richard Bogoroch  00:08:52 

Thank you very much. 

Heidi Brown  00:08:53 

Thank you. 

Greg Greenberg  00:08:53 

Yeah. And thanks again for all of you for joining us today. And make sure you stay tuned for more award spotlights. I'm Greg Greenberg for Canadian Lawyer TV, signing off. Until next time.