Legal Fees

I charge clients $175.00 per hour plus HST ($22.75) for all the time I work on their case.

I incur certain expenses on behalf of clients and bill these "disbursements." Examples of disbursements are: fees I pay to process servers to file documents at court, courier charges to serve court papers on the other party and court filing fees.

Clients need to make arrangements for payment of legal services when I open a new file. Some clients make a deposit (called a retainer) while other show me that they will be able to pay my invoices by credit card promptly after I issue them.

Legal Aid

If you qualify for a Legal Aid certificate, I strongly encourage you to apply for one. Although I do not accept legal aid certficates, I can refer you to excellent lawyers who do.

Legal Aid Ontario is a provincial agency that may pay for a lawyer to act on your behalf if your household income is below the cut-off amount. For example, the financial eligibilty criteria for a household of two people (e.g., one parent and one child) permit funding below $26,798. When the household income is between $22,253 and $26,798, the client may be required to contribute a monthly amount to the Legal Aid plan. In a domestic violence case the income limit is $32,131.

Call Legal Aid Ontario at 1-800-668-8258 between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday to apply or to get more information. If Legal Aid Ontario approves your application and issues you with a legal aid certificate, you can look for a lawyer of your choosing who accepts legal aid certificates (some lawyers do not) and hire him or her in the ordinary way, with payment coming from Legal Aid Ontario. The plan covers disbursements as well as legal fees.