Event Details

Location: Zoom link, details to follow

Date & Time: Wednesday November 25th @ 5:30 - 7:30pm 

Target Audience

Registered health care professionals who prepare treatment, clinical, assessment, and expert reports for personal injury, disability, and civil litigation matters in Ontario.

This webinar will explore the legal and clinical principles that underpin clear, objective, and defensible treatment and expert reports. Drawing on the perspectives of experienced plaintiff and defence counsel, participants will gain practical insight into how treatment reports and expert opinions are considered by lawyers, insurers, tribunals, and courts. The session will provide practical strategies for strengthening report writing and clinical reasoning, effectively communicating functional findings and treatment recommendations, and addressing complex issues such as causation, conflicting evidence, pre-existing conditions, and alternative explanations. Participants will also learn how to recognize and address common vulnerabilities in clinical and expert reports, while ensuring that their documentation remains objective, evidence-based, and within their professional scope of practice.

Presenters

• Brandon Pederson, Associate, McLeish Orlando LLP
• Joanna Reznick, Senior Counsel, Aviva Trial Lawyers
• Eden Dales, MSW, RSW, Eden Dales Social Work & Psychotherapy Services
• Dr. Darrin Milne, BSc, DC, North York Injury Management
  

Moderator

• Dr. Dory Becker, Psychologist and Director, Omega Medical Associates

Learning Objectives

Following this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Prepare clear, objective, evidence-based treatment and expert reports that effectively communicate clinical information, functional implications, treatment recommendations, and—where appropriate—expert opinions.
• Distinguish the purpose and requirements of treatment reports from expert reports, including the different roles, responsibilities, and expectations that apply to treating professionals and expert witnesses.
• Strengthen the clinical and evidentiary foundation of reports by appropriately integrating medical records, self-report, collateral information, behavioural observations, clinical findings, pre-accident history, treatment response, and professional judgment.
• Explain clinical reasoning rather than simply report symptoms or findings, demonstrating how the available information supports clinical conclusions, recommendations, and opinions.
• Write effectively for a non-clinical audience, translating complex clinical information into clear, accessible language for insurers, lawyers, tribunals, and courts.
• Recognize common vulnerabilities and deficiencies in treatment and expert reports and apply practical strategies to improve report quality and reduce challenges during examinations, cross-examination, and judicial review.
• Develop and communicate opinions on causation appropriately, including consideration of pre-existing conditions, competing explanations, inconsistencies, alternative causes, and the limits of the professional's expertise.
• Remain objective and within scope of practice, particularly when discussing diagnoses, injuries, medical records, causation, prognosis, or issues outside the provider's professional expertise.
• Apply relevant legal principles and commonly litigated thresholds to ensure reports are focused, accurate, responsive, and appropriately directed to the issues being considered.
• Use artificial intelligence responsibly to support clinical documentation, note-taking, report preparation, and editing while maintaining professional judgment, privacy, confidentiality, and ethical obligations.

For further information, email the MLST office at mlst@mlst.ca.