Hello from me…

Hi! My name is Marc Bolda and I’m one of the litigation lawyers practicing at Drysdale Bacon McStravick (www.dbmlaw.ca), a full service law firm located in Coquitlam, B.C.
I practice mainly in the area of personal injury and general commercial litigation, with a view to helping clients get the best result for the smallest expenditure possible in that legal cockpit known as the law courts…
My first job, ironically enough, is to keep clients out of court in the first place, through a variety of so called “alternate dispute resolution” mechanisms, such as settlement negotiations or mediation, and my second job–if the first just isn’t viable–is to see the client through his or her day in court, hopefully with a great win and with said client’s wallet still (relatively) intact: Pyrrhic victories need not apply.
Another way of looking at my role is that of risk management: just like a doctor, it’s my duty to place the client in a position of informed risk; if a certain procedure is engaged in, what are the odds of this or that happening and why it’s better (or not) to choose one course of action over another. Litigation is all about risk: a good barrister will make the other side see that paying out a decent settlement is better than getting hammered in court! But beware the lawyer who guarantees you an easy win–the only certainties in this life are the two you’ve already heard about and anyone who says different ain’t been to Vegas.
Over the coming weeks and months, I will be posting on topics of interest to those of you unfortunate enough to have been injured–primarily in motor vehicle accidents (although we represent a fair number of clients who have been involved in slip and fall type accidents or who have been attacked by dogs). People who have been through this process often don’t know which is worse: being hurt through someone else’s negligence or dealing with the insurance company afterwards.
Personal injury lawyers–despite being maligned as ‘ambulance chasers’ and the like–are often the beacon of hope for those struggling to obtain fair compensation and get their lives back on track in the wake of an accident. That’s called job satisfaction and is one of the main reasons we put up with the often crazy hours this profession demands. We work closely with the medical profession too, in helping to coordinate the best treatment plan available and, where necessary, making sure clients get to see the right specialist–who not only help with the management of injuries but also provide the medical legal expertise that is required in court to prove the case.