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16 www.canadianlawyermag.com TOP PERSONAL INJURY BOUTIQUES 2022 BY NOW, all of us are probably tired of hearing about COVID-19 and its impact on so many parts of society. But there's no denying that the pandemic has affected everyone – including personal injury lawyers, their clients, and the justice system – in different ways. The firms on Canadian Lawyer's list of Top Personal Injury Boutiques have all FIGHTING FOR THE LITTLE GUY figured out how to manage – and even thrive – in the pandemic world from which we are just starting to emerge. They've worked hard to figure out hybrid working arrange- ments and virtual platforms that involve less travel and more social distancing and, in the process, found that some of these modifica- tions have improved productivity. Lawyers from firms on the Top Personal "My view was if you're just practicing personal injury, and you're only doing motor vehicle cases, you're probably not going to sustain a practice" Charles Gluckstein, Gluckstein Personal Injury Lawyers Injury Boutiques list also see a court system finally pulling itself out of the technological dark ages to embrace less paper and more virtual hearings. And while there is still the problem of long waits for settling a client's MOTOR VEHICLE FATALITIES AND INJURIES IN 2020 Source: Statistics Canada In 2020, motor vehicle fatalities decreased 1% to 1,745 from the 2019 figure. Serious injuries decreased to 7,868 in 2020, down 12% from 2019. The number of total injuries decreased to 101,572 in 2020, down 28% from 2019 (140,801). The number of fatalities per 100,000 population decreased to 4.6 in 2020 (from 4.7 in 2019), the lowest on record. In 2020, there was a large increase in the percentage of occupants that were killed or seriously injured who were not wearing seatbelts. For example, 33.2% of driver fatalities were not wearing seatbelts, compared to 25.2% in 2019, which equates to a 32% increase. SPECIAL REPORT