Serving Injured Albertans for 30 Years

Injury lawyer Mark McCourt founded McCourt Law Offices on August 1, 1995, and since that day 30 years ago, the firm has assisted thousands of Albertans injured by reckless drivers recover the compensation that they deserve for their pain and suffering, income loss, out-of-pocket expenses and other damages. As the Canadian Bar Association stated over 50 years ago, "the right of an individual to recover general damages from the wrongdoer in motor vehicle accident cases and to have such right adjudicated in the courts is one of the most vital hallmarks of the Canadian system of justice." Mr. McCourt's lovely and talented wife Liana, a professional LASS (legal assistant/secretarial specialist), is co-owner of the law firm and was instrumental in getting the business started, during which time Mark was the sole practitioner in the firm. Alberta accident attorneys Brent Rathgeber (in the late '90s) and Marilyn Burns (in 2001) subsequently joined McCourt Law Offices as associates of the firm. Rathgeber went on to become a Conservative MLA in Edmonton and MP in Ottawa, and Burns became leader of the Alberta Advantage Party.

Other litigators have come and gone from McCourt Law Offices over the past three decades, but currently, lawyers Sara McCourt (our founder's oldest daughter) and Graham Vachon practice at the firm, with Mr. McCourt continuing to serve as principal counsel. Together, the team at Mark McCourt Professional Corporation helps innocent injured auto accident victims obtain full and fair compensation from negligent motorists' insurers or, in the case of careless uninsured or unidentified drivers, from the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund. Mr. McCourt's younger daughters, Rebecca and Kendra, provide administrative support to the firm (as well as to investment business Herbert Patrotage Holdings Inc., the other corporation in the McCourt Law Offices Group of Companies) under the expert supervision of Senior Litigation Assistant Rachelle Leger, who first joined the firm a quarter of a century ago in the year 2000.

Alberta operates under a tort law system for motor vehicle accident (MVA) injury cases, which means that if you are injured by a careless driver, you have the right to be compensated for your losses by the at-fault motorist's insurer. Additionally, no-fault benefits (for medical expenses and income loss) are available under Section B of the Standard Auto Policy. When our office is hired to pursue an injury claim on behalf of someone hurt by a reckless driver, our fees are based on a percentage of recovery from the at-fault motorist's insurer (or from the MVAC Fund). We do not take a percentage of Section B benefits, which provide care first to those injured in car crashes regardless of fault and long before legal actions are commenced. No fees are payable unless and until our firm recovers injury compensation for our clients from the blameworthy motorist, and we offer a free initial consultation.

During the 21st century, MVA injury law has been under attack by the powerful insurance lobby and its pliable pals in the Alberta government (both politicians and unelected finance department bureaucrats). In 2004, the same year that the Minor Injury Regulation (MIR) was implemented, Mark McCourt was recognized as one of Alberta's 50 Most Influential People for his leading role in protecting the rights and freedoms of Albertans from Tory tort deform. The UCP government under the leadership of Jason Kenney amended the MIR in 2020, and then in 2022 implemented the boneheaded no-fault Direct Compensation Property Damage (DCPD) scheme for vehicle damage claims. With the lunatics taking over the asylum, Kenney stepped down in 2022, replaced as Premier of Alberta by April Fools' Day birthday girl Danielle Smith (who a generation ago wrote this astute newspaper column strongly supporting the longstanding civil legal rights of innocent Albertans injured by careless drivers).

Amongst other asinine endeavours, Premier Smith (an obvious hypocrite) has presided over a plot to decimate MVA tort law in favour of an unconservative, unAlbertan, unnecessary and unpopular no-fault system. At UCP AGMs in both 2023 and 2024, party members passed policy resolutions to repeal the DCPD legislation and return to a tort-based (a.k.a. at-fault) auto insurance system, but Smith confirmed that she does not feel bound by democratic votes by UCP members on party policies. In fact, not only did she ignore the will of the party membership on the DCPD issue after the vote last November, Smith doubled down that month by announcing plans to annihilate the MVA tort rights of innocent injured Alberta auto accident victims. Less than six months later, Smith's UCP MLAs rammed through the Alberta Legislature incompetent Finance Minister Nate Horner's "Raise Rates, Remove Rights" Bill 47, designed to replace MVA tort law with a no-fault auto insurance scheme beginning in 2027 (an election year in which Smith's party might be defeated if it continues to ignore its conservative base).

Former Alberta Justice Minister Jonathan Denis has called the UCP's no-fault scheme "one of the worst pieces of legislation I've ever seen." Take Back Alberta founder David Parker said recently, "I feel very ashamed that I played any role in Danielle Smith becoming Premier. I see the corruption, the lies to the base, the attacks on democracy, and I feel a great deal of sadness." With the insurance lobby admitting (so soon as its beloved "No Claims Insurance" bill was safely passed) that Albertans probably won't actually see lower premiums under the UCP's disastrous no-fault scheme, our principal counsel predicts a huge backlash from conservatives (including right wing media and party stalwarts at the 2025 UCP AGM) over the latter half of this year against this ill-advised auto insurance deform scheme. Premier Smith's executive directors Rob Anderson and Bruce McAllister are strongly advised to counsel her to take the wheel from Horner without further delay and reverse course on the Finance Ministry's preposterous no-fault car insurance plans, or else the UCP will face a thousand victims' rights advocates (and our motivated army of clientele) with nothing better to do in 2027 than to channel our resources to help boot this putrid government out of office and the private auto insurance industry out of Alberta.

In the meantime, if you have been injured by a negligent driver, you still have rights in Alberta, if perhaps for a limited time only. Contact McCourt Law Offices, celebrating our 30th Anniversary today!