Fees
Our clients include white and blue collar employees at all levels, and spanning all industries. We recognise that the issues our clients face affect both their livelihoods and their futures. Both need to be protected, and both are worth fighting for. However we also recognise that clients need access to strong legal advice in the very moment where their cash flow might be strained. Because of this, we do what we can to be as accessible as possible to the people who need us the most.
Our hourly rates are as follows:
Nicole Howell
D. Michael Bain, K.C.
Kelly Slade-Kerr
Peter Eastwood
Steven Boorne
Derek Knoechel
Jonas McKay
Menachem Freedman
Carly Poissant*
Victoria Petrenko*
James Hankinson
Stephanie Cousineau
Adrienne Staley*
Claire Lee
Jotika Kaler*
Kaitlin Hardy*
Paralegals
Legal Assistants
* Currently on leave
$450
$450
$450
$395
$375
$375
$375
$310
$295
$295
$295
$275
$250
$250
$250
$250
$160
$80
- We seek to keep our rates within standard range of the industry. The rates of our lawyers vary from $250 – $450 per hour, depending on experience and area of law.
- We bill by the hour, so you only pay for time spent. This means that matters that resolve more quickly result in a cost-savings to you.
- We also send work down to the appropriate level as a further way of saving you money. Paralegals are $160/hour and legal assistants are $80/hour.
- We are able to resolve over 50% of our clients’ issues in three hours or less. Great advice given at the right time can make a world of difference.
- For more complex cases, we are happy to discuss payment schedules to make the legal process more financially viable for you.
Disbursements
In the course of working on your behalf we must incur additional expenses which are billed to you at cost. These might include:
- Legal research databases
- Court registry filing fees
- Agents’ fees (for searches, filings, etc.)
- Document imaging (photocopies, faxes, printing)
- Experts’ fees
- Out of town travel expenses
- Courthouse legal research costs
- Transcripts
- Couriers
We do not charge for incoming faxes, regular postage or for long distance calls.
Taxes
We are currently required to charge you GST and PST on our fees, and GST on disbursements.
In cases involving employment law, where we act for employees, our fees are usually tax-deductible. If you have any questions about this, please consult your accountant.
Billing
We will provide you with a bill each month. This enables you to know the costs which you are incurring on a timely basis.
Please note that should you have any concerns regarding your bill, the Rules of our Law Society permit you to have any bill reviewed by a Master of the Supreme Court.
Payment
Accounts are due and payable upon receipt.
We are not a large operation and there are many disbursements which we may be required to payout on behalf of our clients. In return, we expect and require prompt payment of our accounts. If a monthly bill is not paid, then we will not continue to provide work, and we will require a retainer before we perform additional work.
In payment of our accounts we accept debit, cheque and Interac e-transfer. We also accept VISA and MasterCard.
Premiums
On occasions where we achieve particularly significant results based on the work performed, we reserve the right to charge a premium.
Contingency Fees
In rare cases we will agree to a contingency fee agreement. These require very specific circumstances, must be agreed upon in advance, and must be reduced to writing to conform to the requirements of our Law Society.
Awarding of Costs
In many cases where we are successful before the Courts, you may be awarded costs against the other party in accord with a tariff of costs which are included in our Supreme Court Rules.
