As the client, you will decide the general direction of your matter. As your lawyer, our job is to provide you with legal advice on the different options available to move your matter forward, including the pros, cons and costs associated with each. We will usually make a recommendation, but the final decision will be yours. We will then provide legal services necessary to carry out your instructions.
We cannot accept instructions that are in conflict with our duties to the courts, other lawyers or the public. 

Two-way communication is very important in a lawyer-client relationship. Many of our lawyers communicate by email or phone. Regular contact with you is critical in order to provide updates on your matter and obtain your further instructions.

It is our goal to respond to client emails or phone calls within 1-2 business days, where applicable. We ask that our clients also respond to our emails or phone calls in a timely fashion. If we do not receive instructions from you on a matter, we are unable to continue to provide legal services on your behalf.

Certain communications between lawyer and client are absolutely confidential. This is known as “lawyer-client privilege.” Because of it, you can give your lawyer all of the facts relevant to your matter without fear that prejudicial information will become public.

Not all lawyer-client communications are privileged. The privilege only arises when the client reveals information in confidence to obtain legal advice or services. Information that you give your lawyer that is not privileged is instead treated as confidential, and, as such, may be disclosed in certain circumstances. 

To retain a lawyer means to hire a lawyer to assist you with your legal matter. There are two parts to hiring a lawyer: a retainer letter and the payment of a retainer.

Once we have been retained by you, we will provide you with a retainer letter which sets out the matter on which you have sought our services and details of the lawyer-client relationship. This includes how you will be charged for legal services, forms communication with you and assurance of confidentiality.

Many lawyers will also require the payment of a retainer before providing legal services. A retainer is essentially a down-payment on legal services, which is held in trust by our firm for you. As we perform legal services on your behalf and provide a statement of account for those services, we will draw down the retainer. Once it has been depleted, we may ask for an additional retainer if more work is required to be performed on your behalf. If your matter is resolved and there are still retainer funds being held in trust for you, the remaining funds will be returned to you.

Our statements of accounts are broken into three categories: legal fees, disbursements and other charges.

Some legal services are provided at a flat-rate charge. Other services may be provided on a contingency basis, whereby our legal fee is a percentage of the amount, if any, recovered in the matter.

Disbursements are payments we make to third parties for expenses incurred on your behalf. We incur these expenses as your agent. Some examples include courier charges, Land Titles Office fees, Corporate Registry fees and court filing fees. You will be responsible for paying our disbursements on your matter, where applicable.

Other charges include charges for non-legal services, such as photocopying, printing and special stationary costs.

A Complaint is a legal document filed with the court that begins the formal litigation process. It identifies the defendant(s) against whom the personal injury claims are made, and it sets out the allegations of fact, the laws and rights violated, and the damages being pursued. 

 A defendant’s attorney will file an “Answer” to the Complaint, responding to each allegation and setting out each defense.

Filing a Complaint means that the dispute is being formalized and escalated to the public courts to begin the litigation process. 
A judge is assigned to the case, the defendant likely receives representation from a defense attorney, and your case becomes subject to the civil procedures of the court. The Complaint and future legal documents filed with the court become part of the public record, available to public scrutiny.

A lawyer cannot initiate the formal litigation process by filing a Complaint without first receiving a client’s express or implied permission. Failure to receive permission from the client could have legal and ethical consequences for the attorney. Although the attorney is most knowledgeable in the law, the claim always belongs to one person – the client.

Service of process – or service of the Complaint and Summons – on the defendant is critical because it establishes that the court hearing the lawsuit has jurisdiction over the defendant. Service of process is also important because it notifies the defendant that the plaintiff is escalating their dispute by initiating the formal litigation process with the courts.  It allows the defendant to hire an attorney, respond to the allegations in the Complaint, and form a legal defense.

Attorney’s fees increase for litigation, because it requires significant more time and resources of the attorney and his office. For instance, formal litigation imposes mandatory deadlines the attorney must follow, it requires the attorney to prepare for and attend legal hearings and depositions, and it necessitates that the attorney respond to different legal motions and address other legal disputes. 
Incidentally, the increasing attorney fees help ensure that the client is committed to pursuing bona fide legal disputes.