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  • Changing Lawyers

    Hi Everyone. This is my first post and Im sure there will be many more. I will appreciate all of the responses I get so thanking you in advance.

    My first question is about changing lawyers. Last month I went to trial to change child support and the way my lawyer handled things was not very good. Needless to say 3 weeks after that I received a invoice for twice as much as we discussed. Besides not being able to afford the amount being asked for we would have done things much differently if that was the true cost. Anyways now my lawyer will not do anymore until we give way lots more and to be honest I am certain this working relationship is done.

    Any advise before I terminate my current relationship and move on to another lawyer? I have already spoke with The Law Society of Upper Canada about how to handle the extra charges.

    Thank you

  • #2
    Originally posted by ChrisB View Post
    Hi Everyone. This is my first post and Im sure there will be many more. I will appreciate all of the responses I get so thanking you in advance.

    My first question is about changing lawyers. Last month I went to trial to change child support and the way my lawyer handled things was not very good. Needless to say 3 weeks after that I received a invoice for twice as much as we discussed. Besides not being able to afford the amount being asked for we would have done things much differently if that was the true cost. Anyways now my lawyer will not do anymore until we give way lots more and to be honest I am certain this working relationship is done.

    Any advise before I terminate my current relationship and move on to another lawyer? I have already spoke with The Law Society of Upper Canada about how to handle the extra charges.

    Thank you
    You need to deal with charges (outstanding balance) if you want to get file from your lawyer. There is limitation period as of how much time you have to dispute bill.

    You will have to serve your lawyer and other party form 4 (Changing in Representation)

    Comment


    • #3
      Thank you. I am aware of the limitation period now. When you say I have to deal with the oustanding balance before i change lawyers are you saying I have to pay it or file the dispute? My understanding and please correct me if I am wrong but they have to turn over the file if I change lawyers.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by ChrisB View Post
        Thank you. I am aware of the limitation period now. When you say I have to deal with the oustanding balance before i change lawyers are you saying I have to pay it or file the dispute? My understanding and please correct me if I am wrong but they have to turn over the file if I change lawyers.
        Normally and I do not know is it legal or not but lawyer will not give you your file before balance on your account will be resolved.

        but you can change representation in any time. If you have copy of everything in your file you can deal with balance on your lawyer file in parallel.

        Another good advice I was given it to try to negotiate outstanding balance with lawyer before file dispute.

        somebody may be will have more hands on experience with this topic and can give more detailed advise.

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        • #5
          I was hoping to work this out with my lawyer but it seems very clear to me that this is the number and no discussion after that as I have tried twice.Today I received a email stating that they cannot continue to represent me until the bill is paid.Im not sure where they think all this money can come from but once it gone its gone. Just more stress to a very stressful situation.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by ChrisB View Post
            I was hoping to work this out with my lawyer but it seems very clear to me that this is the number and no discussion after that as I have tried twice.Today I received a email stating that they cannot continue to represent me until the bill is paid.Im not sure where they think all this money can come from but once it gone its gone. Just more stress to a very stressful situation.
            Well, than you just have to inform your lawyer in writing that you do not agree with bill and request detailed billing for your account.

            You can state that you will file dispute if you cna not agree on balance.

            and serve him with form 4 (if you really need some from you file you can get it from court)

            But again I would wait for others to replay and see what they would advise.

            WD

            Comment


            • #7
              Last month I went to trial to change child support and the way my lawyer handled things was not very good.
              By "not very good" do you mean that the outcome was not to your benefit? Please elaborate.

              If you are certain you want to change lawyers, there is nothing wrong with that step if you feel that you are not being served with your best interests in mind. You need to ask your lawyer for an itemized statement if he/she hasn't already done so.

              I have already spoke with The Law Society of Upper Canada about how to handle the extra charges.
              What did they say about your situation?

              Comment


              • #8
                Normally and I do not know is it legal or not but lawyer will not give you your file before balance on your account will be resolved.
                The contents of your file are your property. However, a lawyer is able to place a "solicitor's lien" on the file until outstanding legal fees are paid. So yes, if there are outstanding amounts owing, the lawyer can stick the entire file in storage until the bill is paid and if you needed documents in it (offers to settle, your financial information, etc) then there is little to be done.

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                • #9
                  What I meant buy the outcome was how she conducted herself throughout the trial. Not prepared and in her own words to my fiancee "I really screwed up". The judge was also very frustrated by her conduct through the 3 days.

                  Let me be more specific with my problem. When we discussed that our case could go to trial I was concerned with the cost to do so. I asked how much would this cost and I was told that given up to 3 days in trial and preparation I would be looking at about $12000.00. Needless to say this was a huge amount on top of the $15000.00 already spent just trying to sort out child support but after discussion with my fiancee we decided it had to be done so we paid our lawyer a $12500 retainer as requested. 3 weeks after the trial I received a email invoice for $27000.00. I have no idea where they think someone would come up with this kind of money but I know if she had told us that at the beginning we would have tried something else. So what I thought would be a $1200 trial is now $27000.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    This is beyond my scope. All I can say is that nobody knows what the costs will be, although there is a huge difference between $12,000. and $27,000. ( I presume the last amount of $1200 was a typo.)

                    Sounds like you both had one lawyer. That seems unusual to me.

                    All the best to you. I hope you can get this sorted out.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Yes 1200 is a typo. We both had our own lawyer.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        A belated Welcome to the Forum.

                        Did you get an answer from the LSUC? Did your lawyer supply you with itemized invoices?

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                        • #13
                          I just sent my lawyer one last email outlining the problems with her charges and at the same time have requested more detail. We will see what response I get to that.

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                          • #14
                            how many days was your trial?
                            Start a discussion, not a fire. Post with kindness.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              It was a 3 day trial. The prep charge on the invoice is over $13000 and she said she planned for a 2 day trial? Im confused.

                              Comment

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