Determining your case and providing our legal opinion requires reviewal of documents, communications, and facts. Due to this, legal consultations are not free. For additional  support, please review our list of free resources.

We provide a legal consultation based on the hourly rate of the lawyer you choose to work with.  We will review your documents, consider the legal issues, fully prepare for the consultation, and provide you with legal advice that sets out your legal risk, exposure, and strategy for options and next steps. This process is rarely less than about 2 hours.  It provides you with the opportunity to obtain a legal opinion on your matter, to meet us, and determine if we are the right fit for your case following the consultation. If you wish to continue to retain us afterwards, we would move to an arrangement which would either unbundle the legal services you require (see the LSR details above) or provide full hourly rate representation in your matter. The path is yours to select. If you would like to book a Legal Consultation, contact us to get started.

Rarely. A contingency fee arrangement is where the law firm takes a percentage, usually around 30%, of the final award that an employee wins in court or in an out of court settlement. This enables the employee to engage in litigation without funding the process up front.

We rarely do contingency, and in all cases, would require the first step to be a Legal Consultation, described above. This would enable us to review your case to determine if it is suitable for a contingency arrangement, while providing you with a full legal opinion and assessment of your case for the fee charged. Should we move to a contingency arrangement, the Legal Consultation fee would be set off against the final contingency fee payment.

When you join us as a client we will ask you for a retainer fee, usually $900 for a standard employment law matter. This is a lump sum amount that you provide before you have incurred any legal fees and in order to retain our services. We keep your retainer fee in our trust account (which is where we hold money belonging to someone else) until your matter is complete.  Once your matter is complete, we will apply your retainer amount to your final bill. Trust accounts are very tightly regulated by the Law Society and there are strict rules around how we handle your money in our trust account.

If at the end of your matter, your final bill is less than the amount we have held as a retainer fee,  the balance of your retainer will be returned to you. If your total bill is more than the retainer fee then you will be required to pay the overage. While your matter is ongoing, we will invoice you for your legal fees on a monthly basis. Each invoice includes a detailed narrative of exactly what we’ve done on your file, so you are always fully in the loop and there are no surprises.  

Example of a Shorter Matter
Some matters are completed within one monthly billing cycle.  Here’s an example: Jill retained us to review a job offer and we provide her with legal advice on negotiating with her prospective employer. Before we get to work on her matter, Jill pays a $900 retainer fee. We put this money into our trust account. We then work with Jill and she incurs $750 in legal fees before signing off on her job offer and concluding her matter with us. Jill’s matter was finite and wrapped up quickly! Yay Jill! We send Jill an invoice for the $750 + HST in legal services and use her retainer money that we have held in trust to pay this invoice. We also return the difference to Jill.

Example of a Longer Matter
Some matters take a while to wrap up and may go on for many months, depending in part on how quick or responsive the other party is. Here’s another example: Nina is terminated from her job. She retains us to help her to negotiate a better package with her former employer. Before we get to work on her matter she provides us with a $900 retainer. During her first month of working with us, Nina incurs $500 in legal fees. When it’s time to do monthly billing, we invoice and charge Nina $500 + HST. Nina pays by credit card and gives us authorization to bill her credit card moving forward. Nina’s $900 retainer remains in our trust account. When Nina’s matter is concluded we use her money that we have held in trust to pay her final bill. Nina’s final bill is $300 + HST. We use Nina’s $900 in trust to pay this bill and return the balance to her.   

Yes! We seek out opportunities to provide budget certainty upfront.  Our unbundled, Limited Scope Representation services are typically flat fee and geared towards only those parts of the legal service you require. Other examples of flat fee services include reviewing an executive contract, drafting a demand letter, and a variety of flat fee services for employers.

One of the regular comments we get from clients is that we don’t sound like lawyers – we’re real people with practical results that address both the legal issue and the very real emotional aspects of your matter. Terminations are always stressful, upsetting, and occasionally seem like they will be financially disastrous. The first few weeks following a termination are, in particular, an emotional rollercoaster that require experience, compassion and responsiveness to cut through the pain and help get you back to decisive action. This will get better, but it will be a heck of a ride along the way.

For other areas of employment law, our firm can provide the experience gained on Bay Street representing global employers, with the comparative analysis gained from dealing with many other executive and employment contracts, negotiations, and constructive dismissals. This experience translates to efficient and cost-effective solutions, grounded in big-picture strategic advice.

Plus, we’re nice and genuinely care that you succeed in your matter, knowing that ‘success’ looks different in every case (and rarely involves a trial or extensive, stressful and costly litigation). We advocate fiercely, litigate when necessary, and always listen to what you need and want in your unique situation.