Fees are of interest to all clients. It is natural to want to know what something will cost. Legal fees cannot be priced like a pair of shoes although the considerations that go into setting them are very similar. With a pair of shoes, the price is likely to be based on how long it took to make them, the quality of the materials, the cost of transporting them to market, and other less tangible elements such as the brand associated with them, availability, etc. In setting legal fees we consider how much staff and lawyer time goes into providing the service, the speed with which the work has to be completed, the success of the exercise, the risk that we take in providing you with what you need, the level of expertise that is required, and other factors. For some matters that fall into the “standard” or “transactional” category, it is fairly easy to set fees, having provided these kinds of services on multiple occasions over the years. In other cases, fees are going to be dependent on the unique characteristics of your situation.
We are committed to:
Keeping our fees competitive
Providing value for your legal services dollar
Being up-front about the anticipated cost of the legal services that you need
You can count on our fees not being the lowest in town. This should not surprise you in light of our commitment to quality customer service and meeting the highest professional standards. Our focus is on providing you with the best value in town – the ideal combination of price and quality. We want you to walk away feeling that you have received good value for the money that you have spent.
To assist you in getting a sense of the cost of basic services, we have developed a series of legal services packages for the most common services that we provide.
These include:
Sale of a home with one mortgage to discharge
Purchase of a home with one mortgage to register
Wills and powers of attorney
Incorporation of your business
Reviewing these materials will give you a sense of whether or not you fit into the ‘standard’ category and what factors in your situation might lead to extra fees or other costs.
Our lawyers will be pleased to discuss fees and disbursements with you at any time in the course of your file. We can provide a preliminary estimate before we open your file. We can also provide updates on fees and disbursements as work progresses.
Our objective is to take the guess work and the anxiety out of this sensitive topic. As with most human interactions, a little communication at the right time makes us all feel more at ease. Let’s talk fees. Give us a call.
