Profile
Brian Cameron on the judgment that comes with experience
The Oatley Vigmond partner brings more than two decades of personal injury experience, including trials, appeals and complex serious-injury cases
Brian Cameron’s career has been devoted to plaintiff-side personal injury litigation. A partner at Oatley Vigmond since 2008 and a Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation, he has appeared at all levels of court in Ontario and before the Supreme Court of Canada. His extensive appellate record includes precedent-setting decisions that continue to safeguard the rights of injured people across the province. He has also played a key role in significant trials and independently handled numerous appeals involving catastrophic impairment, accident benefits and other issues affecting injured people.
What’s unique about your approach to representing injured clients?
Personal injury litigation is ultimately about telling the story of a person’s life. Serious injury cases can involve thousands of pages of medical records, expert opinions and complex legal issues, but a judge or jury still needs to understand who that person was before the injury and what has changed.
Jim Vigmond and I once spent about 10 weeks at trial representing a seriously injured client. We later attended his wedding and watched his first dance. Experiences like that remind you that these are not abstract legal claims. To tell someone’s story convincingly in court, you have to know the person: what they have lost, what matters to them and what they will need in the future.
Why does trial experience matter in personal injury law?
There is judgment that comes from actually doing trials, motions and appeals. You learn what evidence matters, how experts perform under cross-examination and which arguments will hold up in a courtroom.
The best outcome for a client is not necessarily a trial. The point is being prepared to go there when necessary. Serious injury cases can require medical, engineering, economic and future-care evidence, and you need both the resources and judgment to know where that evidence will make a difference.
Credibility matters too. You can advocate strongly, disagree with the other side and still be straightforward and professional. That reputation is built over time, one case at a time.
How do you see AI changing personal injury law?
AI will be useful for reducing routine work, organizing information and helping lawyers work more efficiently. If it creates more time for strategy, judgment and client interaction, that is valuable.
But you still have to know what you are talking about to use AI effectively. AI can give you information; it cannot stand in a courtroom and decide what to do with it. It cannot replace examining a witness, responding to unexpected evidence or understanding how a judge or jury is reacting. Technology will change how lawyers work. It does not change the fundamental job of a trial lawyer.
What has your career taught you about personal injury law?
That the law is important, but the person is more important. You need to understand the law, the medicine and the evidence, and you need to be prepared to go to court. But ultimately, someone has trusted you with a part of their life that may have changed in seconds. The job is to understand that story, give honest advice and advocate for them wherever the case needs to go.
Brian Cameron is a veteran personal injury lawyer, with a focus on motor vehicle collisions, boating accidents and product liability.
Contact him today
Oatley Vigmond
Oatley Vigmond is the recognized legal advocate for seriously injured people and their families. We are driven with compassion and a commitment to fight for our clients to ensure that they achieve the optimum legal outcome, financial security and the best possible quality of life. Oatley Vigmond is a home for only the brightest, most creative and most productive people in the profession – people with sound judgment, a passion for the work we do, strong people skills and a devotion to acquiring the best possible outcome. The standards we keep require no less. Personal injury law is all we do. Our skilled team of personal injury lawyers and accident benefits specialists are committed to securing the best possible outcome for those with catastrophic injuries. We service clients all across the province.