Lecture1 - Lawsuit Last resort b/c costly unpredictable...

Lawsuit
 Last resort b/c costly, unpredictable, time consuming, and stressful
 Better to consult lawyer first
Law Society
 Lawyer’s governing body
Canadian Bar Association
Most way people find lawyers is through referrals
 Good referral = positive outcome, not outraged by the bill
 There are time limits for taxing bills (ranges up to a year)
 Desirable to find lawyers who wish to keep you out of court
Payment options
 Most common complaint from clients are that lawyers bill to much
o Legitimate issues can be brought upon via Taxation
 Average hourly rates = 200-250 per hour
o Something agreed upon between lawyer and client
o Can be minimum increments where minimal amount prorated is something like 10 mins prorated etc.
 Fixed amount
 Contingency
o Based on an outcome (% of remuneration + expenses incurred)
o Losses result in no payments
o Transfers a lot of the risk of losing to the lawyer
 Lawyer still expects out of pocket expenses however (win or lose, client still pays)
o Loss incurred with contingency can still be costly for clients because they may still have to pay part of
lawyer fees for winner
o Contingency could be considered illegal in some cases
 b/c of the possibility of frivolous lawsuits (ex. Nothing to lose for client)
 may bias jury/judges to compensate more towards the winner
 may encourage lawyers to settle for unreasonable amounts b/c of the time requirements for a
case
 sliding scales (ex. 20% out of court, 33% if goes to court) discourages this
o Contingency is ethical in the sense that it allows impoverished people to sue/pursue litigation
o