How to Hire a Lawyer
Last Verified:
2003-07-10
Summary
Lawyers are highly trained professionals who deal with a full range of personal and business legal matters. Many business transactions have legal implications, so you should try to find a lawyer whom you can treat as a trusted business advisor.
What can a lawyer do for you?
Lawyers provide legal advice. This doesn't mean that they can make your business decisions for you. He or she should be able to identify legal issues that concern your small business, tell you what the law says about these issues, and on your instructions, help you to address them. Typically, a lawyer can guide you at every stage of your business.
When you are setting up a business a lawyer can:
- help you decide whether your business should be a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation;
- draft a partnership agreement or incorporate your company;
- review documents a lender may require you to sign;
- review leases of premises or equipment;
- act for you in the purchase of property;
- review franchise agreements;
- draft standard form contracts for use in your business;
- advise you how to best protect your ideas, trademarks and designs.
When your business is up and running, your lawyer can:
- help you negotiate contracts and put them in writing;
- help you collect unpaid bills;
- defend any lawsuits against you;
- advise you on hiring and firing employees;
- advise you about taxes;
- advise you about doing business in other provinces and countries.
If you decide to get out of business, a lawyer can help you:
- sell your business;
- arrange for the transfer of the business to your children;
- dissolve a corporation
When do you need a lawyer?
The cautious (and therefore recommended) approach is to seek the advice of a lawyer whenever a legal issue arises that involves your small business. Of course, it is not always clear when that happens. Many problems can be solved without resorting to lawyers, people solve their own legal problems every day. When confronted with a problem, you must first decide whether you need a lawyer at all. In order to answer this questions do some research by:
- speaking to friends and colleagues
They can provide information about the steps they went through and the resources they used in solving their problems.
- contacting non-lawyers and other organizations
Government and non-profit: income tax offices, legal aid offices, consumer protection agencies, employment standards branches...
Professionals: accountants, bank officers, insurance agents...
Legal assistants, para-legals and notaries public: they are not allowed to give legal advice but provide limited legal services
Other: public libraries, legal aid services, student legal services, small claims courts...
- reading self-help books and other resources
such as books, pamphlets and videos. There are also private organizations providing courses and lectures on various legal topics, some for free.
- calling a lawyer
Most lawyers are happy to steer people in the right direction and calm your fears about the legal process. There are several advantages to this approach. The main one is that a lawyer can quickly cut to the heart of your problem, distinguish between legal and non-legal problems. Another advantage is that you usually will not be charged for this phone call. Finally, a lawyer will not only keep your problem confidential, but has the ability to assess it from a less emotional perspective.
Even if you eventually decide that you do need a lawyer, in the course of doing this research, you might find some helpful information which will make you better equipped to deal with a lawyer.
In order to know if you should solve your problem on your own, ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the consequences if you are unsuccessful?
- How complex is the law in your situation?
- Do you have the time and energy?
How do you find a lawyer?
First, try to identify the areas of law in which your problems fall so that you can find a lawyer capable with dealing with all these areas. Some of the main areas of legal practice linked to business are:
- Company / commercial / securities law (incorporation, buying / selling a business, drafting shareholders / partnership agreement)
- Labour / employment law (negotiating and interpreting collective agreements, resolving disputes, explaining obligations, advising about strikes, lay-offs, dismissals...)
- Civil litigation law (suing, being sued, collecting debts, negotiating and settling)
- Real Estate law (buying or selling land or property, negotiating a lease, solving landlords / tenants disputes, mortgaging property)
- Wills and estates (drafting or challenging a will, dealing with probates if someone dies...)
Then, compile a list of potential lawyers. You may seek many perspectives from as many lawyers as you like before hiring one. There are several ways to compile a list:
- personal referrals. Most would agree that is the best way to find a good lawyer, but friends and colleagues will have different expectations than you do, so you may want to explain those before asking for advice.
- Lawyer referrals services. This free service provides names of lawyers practicing in particular areas of the law. Simply call, explain your problem and you will be given the names of a few lawyers in your areas.
Lawyer referrals services across Canada:
Alberta 1-800-661-1095
British Columbia 1-800-663-1919
Manitoba 1-800-262-8800
New Brunswick 1-506-458-8540
Newfoundland 1-709-722-2643
Northwest Territories 1-867-873-3828
Nova Scotia 1-800-665-9779
Nunavut 1-867-979-2330
Ontario 1-800-268-8326
Prince Edward Island 1-902-566-1666
Quebec Montreal 1-514-866-2490
Quebec 1-418-529-0301
Hull 1-819-777-5225
Longueuil 1-450-468-2609
Laval 1-450-686-2958
Laurentides Lanaudière 1-450-752-6774
Saskatchewan 1-800-667-9886
Yukon 1-867-668-4231
- Legal directories. These directories list lawyer's names and sometimes their area of practice. Some of these are on CD-ROM, on the Internet and public libraries may have copies of different directories. Canada Law List is a Canadian directory that lists all Canadian lawyers.
- Canadian Bar Association Sections. Each province as a provincial branch which organizes meetings for groups of lawyers in various practice areas. These particular lawyers are often leaders in their area of law and would know the best lawyers who practice in that area.
- Telephone Directory. Don't take the ad literally: much is not said in an advertisement, don't forget to discuss the costs with the lawyer and keep a copy of the ad in case he/she doesn't live up to your expectations.
- Internet. More and more lawyers are placing advertisements on web sites, but Internet postings and web sites, like other advertisements, should be approached with caution.
What should you look for in selecting a lawyer?
When looking for a lawyer to help you with your business affairs, you should look for the following qualities:
- Display a high degree of integrity (he/she should approach any matter in a forthright and honest manner)
- Be knowledgeable in business law matters
- Be willing and able to participate in the growth of your small business (establishing an ongoing relationship)
- Have excellent communication skills (oral and written advocacy skills)
- Know when a fight is worth fighting and when it may be in your best interest to back off
- Discretion
What should you ask a lawyer?
The following are a list of questions you might want to ask during a phone interview before agreeing to meet with a lawyer. More detailed questions can be asked during the first meeting.
- Time and accessibility
- Do you have enough time to deal with my problem quickly?
- How quickly can I expect a resolution?
- When can we meet?
- Cost
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How do you charge for your services?
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Approximately how much will your services cost me in total?
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Do you provide your clients with a detailed written statement of fees?
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Do you charge anything for the first meeting?
- Quality of service
- How do you keep client informed on what you are doing?
- Will you send me copies of all letters relating to my case?
- Will you be hiring others to work on my case?
How can you help your lawyer?
It is a two-way relationship: just as you expect a good lawyer, lawyers also want good clients. The main things that lawyers look for in clients are:
- Honesty and candour
- Be as open and honest as you can possibly be.
- Tell the lawyer all the facts.
- Keep your lawyer up to date on any events or any changes relating to your file.
- Active participation
- Ask for advice in plain language and summarize how you understand it.
- Ask to be directed to any reading that you could do to better understand.
- Ask for a description of the steps your lawyer plans to take and think about the way you could help at each step.
- Stay informed and keep track of what transpires on your file.
- Take notes at all meetings and list tasks to be completed.
- Ask for copies of all correspondence on file.
- Cooperation
- Have confidence in your lawyer's advice and follow his/her instructions.
- Do not harass your lawyer. If you need more attention, discuss way in which he/she can keep you informed.
- Be prepared to accept both positive and negative advice.
- Never do anything concerning your case without consulting your lawyer.
- Provide information to your lawyer as soon as possible after he/she requests it.
- Pay your bills on time and be available if your lawyer needs you.
How do lawyers calculate their fees?
Fees or charges, vary widely from lawyer to lawyer, depending on the complexity of the issues, the services required, and the degree of experience of the lawyer. Lawyers can charge for their services in different ways. They can:
- Bill at an hourly rate for the time they spend working for you (even the time spent reading a letter or talking to you on the phone).
- Charge a flat rate for a particular matter (when they can predict how long the work will take: incorporations, real estate transactions...).
- Charge a contingency fee (in some provinces, the lawyer's fee will be a stated percentage of the amount of money collected from a lawsuit).
- Provide a range of specified services for a fixed monthly or annual fee.
However their fees are calculated, lawyers are required to charge GST. In addition, lawyers will also bill for disbursements such as long distance phone calls, photocopies, document filling fees, experts' reports and travel expenses.
How to get the most out of your lawyer?
Following are some of the things you can do that will help keep your legal fees down:
- Consult your lawyer sooner rather than later, prevention is the best way to cut down legal bills.
- Do your homework. The more you know about the law, the less time your lawyer will have to spend explaining it all to you.
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Make the best use of telecommunications. Leave detailed messages to a secretary or law clerk or on voice mail, by fax or e-mail (don't worry, law firms require all employees to keep client information confidential) so that your lawyer will be able to do what you want before connecting with you.
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Be available. If it takes several attempts for your lawyer to contact you, your legal bill will rise because you pay for every telephone call, even if you cannot be reached.
What if you are unhappy with your lawyer?
If you have carefully chosen your lawyer, you shouldn't run into too many problems. But if as time goes by you become unhappy with any aspect of your relationship, what should you do?
- If you are generally pleased with your lawyer's work, discuss the problems as they come up. (i.e. phone calls that are not returned in a reasonable time or a bill you don't fully understand)
- If you have lost confidence in your lawyer, or no longer feel comfortable working with him/her, find another lawyer. The new lawyer should be able to facilitate the transition (i.e. getting your file for you so you don't have to confront the lawyer you are firing).
- If your concern are more serious in nature such as professional negligence or misconduct, seek advice from another lawyer or contact your provincial law society. Lawyers are insured against professional negligence, so if your lawyer's mistake has cost you money you should be able to recover something. Lawyers can be disciplined (reprimand, suspension or disbarment) by the provincial law society if they are guilty of professional misconduct (i.e. never answering your phone calls or letters, not following your instructions or lying to you about the status of your matter).In serious cases of deliberate misconduct (taking your money and disappearing for example) lawyers may be subject to criminal charges as well. In addition, provincial law societies have a compensation fund available to clients who suffered a loss due to their lawyer's deliberate misconduct (not a mistake).
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