LawyerSelect.ca - Guide to Hiring a Lawyer

COST-SAVING STRATEGIES TO KEEP DOWN LEGAL COSTS This blog is brought to you courtesy of  www.lawyerselect.ca For many new business owners, the very concept of consulting with a lawyer stirs up terrifying visions of sky-high legal costs and crazy hourly rates. That shouldn’t be the case. While lawyers are definitely not cheap, there are a number of ways to control your legal costs. First, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the different ways in which lawyers bill you for their time. 1.        Hourly rate – this is how most lawyers’ bill (by the hour). If they have to travel for your matter, they may also bill you by the day. 2.        Flat/Block fee – some lawyers will charge you a flat rate, usually for routine matters, like drafting a contract, or reviewing a lease. Make sure to carefully review the work that’s included as part of the flat rate. 3.        Monthly ...

THE IMPORTANCE OF HIRING A BUSINESS LAWYER FOR YOUR SMALL BUSINESS This blog is brought to you courtesy of  www.lawyerselect.ca As a general rule, the two most important professionals every business needs early on are: a lawyer and an accountant. The importance of a lawyer may be a surprise to some, while accountants not so much. After all, it’s the accountant who’s going to help you set up your books, accounts and prepare all your tax returns. In much the same way, a lawyer will provide you with invaluable assistance in pretty much every aspect of your business… surprised? You shouldn’t be. Lawyers help with zoning issues and compliance, copyrights, trademarks, partnership agreements, incorporation, and potential future liability. So… what type of lawyer will I need? Like physicians, lawyers specialize in certain areas of law. So someone who practices estate law may not be the best fit for your business. Below we’ve listed some of the areas of law that a busine...

The 9 Things You Should Think About Before Suing This blog is brought to you courtesy of  www.lawyerselect.ca 1 à Does your case have merit? First and foremost, do you have a genuine legal claim? Does the law support your position? For example, let’s say you slipped and fell at a grocery store injuring yourself; that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a claim against the store owner for a “slip and fall.” You’ll have to assess whether the store owner was at fault for failing to ensure your safety. This is both a factual and legal assessment, which a personal injury lawyer can best assist you with. 2 à Have you made a demand for compensation/reparation before you file suit? This step is often overlooked, sometimes because there is a lack of dialogue between the parties involved. You can avoid that by sending the other party a “demand letter” where you can propose the terms of settlement. This can be a very effective tool, because when people know they’re ...

Types of Legal Fees This blog is brought to you courtesy of  www.lawyerselect.ca In this article, we’ll briefly discuss the various fee arrangements that you may encounter when hiring a lawyer. As a general rule, the type of fee arrangement that’s selected will affect how much you pay to your lawyer in legal fees. The amount of legal fees payable will depend on a number of different factors, such as the total time spent on your matter, the lawyer’s experience and reputation in that area of the law, the novelty and difficulty of your legal issue, the result or outcome secured by your lawyer, and the costs involved in furthering your matter. There are several common types of fee arrangements used by lawyers: ·        Consultation Fee : The initial consultation with your lawyer is usually free-of-charge, but that’s by no means a hard and fast rule. Some lawyers charge a flat consultation fee, while others may bill you by the hour based...

Questions to Ask a Lawyer This blog is brought to you courtesy of www.lawyerselect.ca If you need a lawyer, it's important to hire the best lawyer for your matter, and for your personality type. Generally, this means that you’ll be looking for a lawyer who practices in the same area as your legal matter. But it’ll also mean that you should be able to afford their services, are comfortable with their experience in handling matters like yours, are geographically proximate to one another, and are comfortable with their personality. Once you've narrowed down the list of candidates, the next step is to have an initial consultation with some of your top choices. LawyerSelect’s Questions to Ask a Lawyer section provides guidance about interviewing a lawyer before hiring him or her and how to research the disciplinary record of an attorney. Interviewing a Lawyer We cannot overstate how important it is to interview the lawyers that you’re considering before hiri...

Choosing the Right Lawyer This blog is brought to you courtesy of  www.lawyerselect.ca   Now that you know you need to hire a lawyer, your next step will be to select the right lawyer for your matter. There’s certainly no shortage of lawyers in Ontario, so finding one won’t be a problem. The challenge will lie in selecting the RIGHT lawyer, which will determine whether your experience is pleasant or frustrating. At LawyerSelect, we help you find a lawyer based on your specific needs by filtering the possible candidates based on experience, cost, location and even gender. Some Helpful Hints When Hiring a Lawyer The obvious first step in the lawyer-hiring process is selecting one who practices law in the area related to your matter. So, for example, if you’ve been charged with a criminal offence, you’ll want to narrow your search down to criminal lawyers. But it doesn’t end there: you should further narrow your search down to the criminal lawyers who have...

The Classification of Offences: Indictable vs. Summary This blog is brought to you courtesy of www.lawyerselect.ca Summary Conviction Offences These types of offences can only be heard in the Court of Criminal Jurisdiction. They are also time bared under the Statute of Limitations – a charge can only be laid prior to 6 months after the commission of the crime – sec. 786(2) of the Criminal Code. A summary conviction charge will begin with a document called an information (which contains alleged facts by the police and prosecution on the case). The maximum sentence for a summary conviction offence is 6 months imprisonment or a $2,000 fine, or both. Appeals for summary conviction offences are heard in the province’s Superior Court. Indictable Offences An accused can choose the trial either to be heard by a provincial court judge in the Court of Criminal Jurisdiction, a Superior Court Judge in the Superior Court of Criminal Jurisdiction, or by a Superior Court Judge...