A Tradition of Talent

An introductory consultation is a meeting between a one of our lawyers and a you prospective client, during which the you furnish us with the facts of your case, after which we explain the legal implications of those facts. Premised on the facts provided, we then furnish you with legal and practical options- taking into account your unique position.

Finally we discuss the probable outcome based on the merit of the matter, and what the matter is likely to cost. At this point, it is completely up to you to decide if an attorney/client relationship is going to be formed. Should you decide to proceed, you will complete and sign a mandate and fee agreement which forms the foundation of our attorney/client relationship.

A consultation is a good opportunity to ask us questions. Anything you think of and subsequently ask might be relative to effectively represent you.

Although an introductory consultation with an attorney does not create an attorney-client relationship, everything that you tell a lawyer during a consultation would be confidential and privileged. Clients should always be open and honest with their attorney knowing that the information would be held confidential. The best type of legal consultations are the ones that are filled with important information in order for the attorney to analyze your case and determine whether he or she should accept the case.

An attorney is entitled to charge a client a fair and reasonable fee for professional legal services. The fee charged by the attorney will depend on a number of factors such as the attorney’s experience and the complexity of the work requested to complete.

There are many different types of fee agreements, but we mostly only enter into hourly based fee agreements with client.

This entails that the attorney and the client would agree to a fee arrangement on an hourly basis. The fee agreement will clearly stipulate what the attorney’s hourly charge is. The attorney is entitled to charge for time spent per hour or pro rata thereof on a particular matter, including but not limited to:

• research;
• appearances in court;
• time travelling to and from court;
• meetings;
• time on the telephone with clients and third parties;
• drafting and perusal of pleadings, documents and letters.

The fee agreement will further indicate and require that all third party payments and an attorneys out-of-pocket expenses, also known as disbursements, be paid by the client. These fees are most commonly advocates fees, sheriff fees and correspondent attorney’s fees. The client’s attorney will be charged separately by the third party for the service provided to them and these fees will be passed on to the client and will be set out in the invoice. This disbursement is added to the attorney’s invoice and the third party invoice is usually attached to the attorney’s invoice when presented to the client for payment.

For more information, kindly contact us and we’ll furnish you with our standard mandate and fee agreement.