How Much Does a Family Lawyer Cost in Ontario Canada? A Barrister Gives You His Top 5 Tips for Family Settlement Negotiations and Court Value

There’s no question these are challenging times. But resolving family law issues remain an essential priority for many. What’s one to do with courts only functioning on a limited basis and with fewer personal resources available to fund a family lawyer?

The biggest challenge in family law might not be settling or winning your case, but having a clue about how much it’s going to cost. In this post I’ll transparently talk family lawyer fee budget strategies with you, so you can avoid family law financial traps, and make every dollar that you do have available count.  Here are my top five tips for family settlement negotiations and court value, learned over my last 25 years of practice.

TIP #1 - MAKE LIBERAL USE OF THE VERY CHEAP FAMILY LAW CONSULTATION 

Most family lawyers offer some kind of discounted initial consultation for clients to understand their legal rights and options, based on their particular facts. I urge you to take any lawyer up on such a deal. 

Some family lawyers do free consultations. Some charge $100. Some charge $350 or $400 (we charge $350). And some charge a bit more. I’ve even heard of a few only asking for a charitable donation. 

Like much in life, you tend to get what you pay for in a consultation. The more you pay, the more time you’re going to get considering your unique issues, the deeper the review of any documents you might present, and probably the more accurate will be any predictions on likely case outcomes that are offered. 

For any consultation, you should expect to have a reasonable number of questions fully answered and come out of the consultation with a recommended family transition strategy that could save you a ton of money in the long run.

Because lawyers occasionally love nothing better than to disagree with each other (and oddly, they could all be right in their own way), consultations can also be a way to shop around for comparative advice. A consultation can also let you get a feel for how comfortable you might be with a given lawyer who you could be stuck with for the next few years if things get nasty.

If all the lawyers are telling you the same thing in consultations, you can be certain you don’t have a lot of options. If they’re all over the map, you should ask why.

TIP #2 - SEPARATION AGREEMENT DRAFTING IS RELATIVELY CHEAP, SO NEVER TRY TO DO IT YOURSELF

Drafting a good separation agreement, including gathering your personal and financial details, negotiating with the other side, boiling all the numbers and details down into a written document, and perhaps getting some accountant input along the way, might cost you under $5000. That’s the price of not even a good used car. And it’s a used car you may be driving for the next 40 years plus depending on how young you are at the time of the relationship split since we’re all living longer and longer. 

No lawyers are getting rich off separation agreement drafting. At least none I know of. Creating a mutually agreeable separation agreement can be a fair bit of slogging back and forth, pulling in some good software, and making sure there aren’t any mistakes in the numbers. 

Since a separation agreement will definitively determine the legal future of all your worldly possessions (now and quite possibly forever, since imagine if a spouse comes back 10 years later claiming you are still together and thus entitled to each other’s property), what you get to keep of your future income, and the destinies of all your children until they are at least 18, do you really want to be trusting it all to Google?

TIP #3 - GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER ON FACTS, DOCUMENTS & NUMBERS

Whether it’s a consultation, separation agreement, or court, the number one thing that’s going to burn through law firm time (and client money) in the early stages of a family case is tracking down factual details, documents and numbers. You may save yourself a small fortune by presenting your lawyer with an impeccably organized portfolio of factual narrative, indexed documents, and spreadsheet numbers, all cross-referenced. 

A binder with paper, tabs, and indexes is great. An electronic searchable PDF folio is even better.

You’ll need as a start:

1. the history of the relationship (this can be very detailed);

2. the outcome you want from the separation;

3. a complete listing of all your assets at the time of the start of the relationship, at the time of the split, and now;

4. details about any children;

5. details about your and your spouse’s employment;

6. your last 3 years of income tax returns and assessments, plus your last pay stubs.

Things like bankruptcies and prior separations or divorces will complicate your past factual narrative, and are imperative for your family lawyer to know all about. Try to produce as many source documents as possible on prior bankruptcy, separation or divorce that happened any time prior to your meeting with your new lawyer, since these are crucial to your case development

TIP #4 - IF YOU’RE ALREADY IN COURT, RUSH TO TRIAL

Now I know this tip may run contrary to the let’s negotiate, let’s mediate, let’s work things out mantra. And I’m all for that too.

But either you’ve already been struggling with those out of court processes for several months (or years) before one of your pulls the trigger on court action. Or you’ll have time to give them a shot as your case progresses through court stages. No one’s saying don’t push the pause button for a couple of months to try to work things out. 

But at least in Ontario, in order to get to a family trial you’ll have to survive six stages of family court:

1. Mandatory Information Program

2. First Appearance

3. Case Conference

4. Settlement Conference

5. Trial Management Conference

6. Trial

Additionally, there could be multiple settlement conferences motions sprinkled in amongst the other steps. 

So how long does it take to get to a family trial? I find 3 to 4 years isn’t uncommon. That 3 to 4 years of ongoing financial, emotional and personal life upheaval constantly hanging over your head. 

The solution? Make trial the goal from the start, and rush towards that goal. 

This “rush to trial” is completely counter to what many lawyers - me included in the past - will usually tell you. But if trial is the goal, it’s still going to take you at least 18 months to get there. That’s lots of time to talk. If you can’t settle it in 18 months, you aren’t going to settle it. But develop a timetable to trial right from the start. That will also ensure there won’t be last-minute scrambling putting together trial evidence and legal arguments to present to the trial judge.

Most importantly, pushing right to trial could cut your trial legal bill in half. Most family trials last no more that 2 to 3 weeks. That 2 to 3 weeks is the blink of an eye compared to some six-month long criminal or civil trials, where rushing to trial should definitely NOT be the goal, as it’s the trial you’ll go broke on more commonly than the pre-trial procedures which will get you in family law.

So why do I see bills like $600,000 (!!!!) from some lawyers (not me) for all steps to the end of a family trial. Shockingly, not because of crazy hourly rates. And not because they are lying in any way about time invested. It’s simply due to horrific burns of time. Thousands of emails. Hundreds of phone calls. Many dozens of letters and court appearances and court pleadings to be drafted, served and filed. The faster to trial, the sooner you’ll stop the burn.

TIP #5 - BUDGET FOR AN APPEAL

Family appeals are WAY cheaper than family trials. So while it’s quite true you stand way better odds at trial than on appeal - in theory it’s a level playing field at trial, while in an appeal your odds are always less than 50-50 - spending double the amount as your opponent on trial preparation and execution won’t necessarily double your chances of trial success. What it will do is perhaps ensure you’re broke by the time it becomes apparent you need to file an appeal. 

Appeals can often be done on a fixed fee basis, introducing far more certainty into costs than the constant burn of the billable trial hour. And while they’ll certainly take many days of preparation, they don’t burn through months of lawyer time. Usually their cost will be somewhat proportionate to the complexity of the trial. 

It’s hard to estimate what percentage of trial costs an appeal will run to, but any appeal is going to be way under 50% of trial costs, and could be way under 25% of those costs, depending on how expensive the trial was. 

Gordon Scott Campbell is a trial and appellate family lawyer practicing in French and English throughout Ontario. Learn more at www.nofearfamilylaw.com

Les cinq mythes principaux de la défense pénale à éviter : un avocat vous donne des informations afin de vous sauver de l’argent tout en obtenant des résultats optimaux

Malgré ces temps difficiles, les roues de justice continuent de tourner. Quoique peut-être plus lentement qu'à l'habitude.

Bien que vous quittez rarement la maison, vous pouvez quand même vous trouver en besoin d’un avocat de défense pénale. Et  ce n’est définitivement pas le moment où quelqu’un veut être détenu (pas que quelqu’un le veuille). C’est comprenable que vous soyez stressé sur la manière de payer les services d’un avocat alors que chaque sou compte.

Vous pourriez être surpris d’apprendre que le droit criminel est la vente au rabais du monde juridique. Plus qu’une fois, j’ai entendu des gens me dire avec certitude, lors de rencontre social, qu’ils savent que les criminalistes sont les plus riches de tous les avocats, alors qu’en réalité, c’est qu’ils sont les moins bien payés de toutes les spécialités juridiques. Je ne sais jamais d’où les gens tirent cette impression, car regarder des émissions de polices et de voleurs ne révèle généralement pas le mode de vie du riche avocat de défense pénale ce qui semble peut-être plus réservé à la télévision aux plaideurs civils et familiaux). Mais néanmoins, c’est l’impression que les gens ont.

Cependant, la véritable réalité des frais des avocats criminalistes est une bonne nouvelle pour quiconque au Canada qui est accusé d'une infraction ou fait l’objet d’une enquête  ou pour un membre de la famille, un être cher ou un ami qui se retrouve dans cette position. Le secret de cette affaire de droit pénal est la prévisibilité et l'efficacité des procédures des courts pénaux.

Contrairement au litige familial et civil, où ce sont surtout des plaideurs privés qui se disputent et qui se dépensent mutuellement s’ils le désirent, dans les litiges criminels, vous vous retrouvez contre la Couronne. Bien qu’il y ait des variantes dans la façon que la Couronne répond dépendamment de la Couronne individuelle qui est assignée à votre dossier, ils doivent en principe être justes et suivre les règlements. Et s’ils ne les respectent pas, vous pouvez toujours vous tourner vers les cours.  Je parle d'expérience puisque j’ai servi en tant que Couronne fédérale pour plusieurs années.

Voici mes cinq principaux mythes à éviter sur la défense d’une accusation criminelle et l’embauche d’un avocat criminaliste qui peut tous vous coûter beaucoup à la fin si vous tombez dans leurs pièges.

1. Je suis coupable donc je n’ai pas besoin d’un avocat

Ce que vous avez fait ou non peut avoir très peu d’influence sur l'habileté de la cour à vous condamner pour les accusations auxquelles vous faites face. Même si vous avez « fait » quelque chose, vous faites peut-être face à une accusation non reliée. Ou même plusieurs accusations non reliées avec ce que vous avez « fait ». Ou il se peut qu’il y ait un problème technique avec les accusations, tel que de ne pas avoir respecté les délais de prescription.

Même si vous plaider coupable, la sanction que vous obtenez peut varier entre potentiellement détruire votre vie ou avoir seulement des effets inoffensifs, sans que la prison soit une option dans tous les cas. Par exemple, si vous n’avez pas de dossier criminel et qu’on vous offre une peine suspendue, qui peut sembler inoffensif puisqu’il n’y a pas de temps en prison ou de contravention à payer, vous croyez peut-être que c’est une bonne affaire!

Par contre, qu’arrive-t-il si vous perdez votre emploi ou que vous ne pouvez voyager internationalement parce que vous avez soudainement un dossier criminel? Le peu d’argent que vous avez peut-être économisé en décidant de ne pas engager un avocat sera plus que compensé par la perte potentiellement énorme de revenus ou de libertés de vie.

Un avocat aurait pu vous obtenir une « libération » pour le même comportement, ce qui ne serait pas une condamnation criminelle contre vous. Ou il aurait pu au moins expliquer et négocier toutes les résultats afin de vous obtenir le meilleur résultat pour vous, qui conviendrait le mieux avec vos circonstances de vie.

2. Toujours engagé l’avocat qui peut garantir des résultats

Ce n’est jamais une bonne affaire d’engager un avocat qui vous offre des « garanties » qu’il ne peut pas maintenir. Sauvez-vous vite d’un avocat criminaliste qui vous garantit un résultat. Croyez-moi, ce n’est simplement pas possible. Les résultats du droit pénal sont décidés par le juge assigné à votre dossier, même lors d’un plaidoyer de culpabilité ou la Couronne est en accord avec la sanction. 

Si quoi que ce soit, vous voulez un avocat qui vous dit la vérité et non seulement ce que vous voulez entendre.

Ce qui ne veut pas dire que vous devriez engager (ou garder) quelqu’un qui, selon vous, qui vous met de la pression déraisonnable pour plaider coupable, en vous disant que vous êtes assuré de perdre au procès. C’est toujours votre décision si vous voulez plaider ou non. Votre avocat ne peut que vous donner des conseils. C’est toujours mieux d’aller au procès et de perdre, que de plaider coupable à quelque chose que vous n’avez pas fait.

3. L’avocat de moins/plus dispendieux est toujours le meilleur

Dans la loi, comme dans plusieurs choses dans la vie, on n’obtient pas toujours ce pour quoi on paie (ou ne paie pas). Il n’y a pas de règlement du barreau qui indique les tarifs que les avocats criminalistes peuvent ou ne peuvent pas facturer. Le marché fixe leurs tarifs.

Les avocats criminalistes doivent être compétitifs au niveau de leurs tarifs. Cependant, vous devrez être prudent et comparer ce qui est inclus ou non dans les différents tarifs présenter. Ce n’est pas comme l’achat d’une auto, où un dépliant explique soigneusement les options supplémentaires de chaque niveau de finition plus cher.

Les tarifs les plus bas risquent de ne pas inclure tous les services que vous ayez besoin, ou ont des surplus cachés. Les tarifs les plus dispendieux risquent d’inclure plus de services que vous ayez besoin. Et les tarifs sont rarement liés avec l’expérience, même si certains croient que l’avocat avec les tarifs les moins dispendieux à moins d’expérience alors que les avocats les plus dispendieux ont le plus d’expérience. Ceci n’est pas toujours le cas, et cela ne veut surtout pas dire qui peut atteindre quels résultats pour vous.

La plupart s’entendent pour dire qu’une estimation « globale » des frais juridiques forfaitaires est la meilleure option dans la mesure du possible pour les affaires criminelles (et c’est une chose que la plupart des avocats criminalistes fourniront), mais vérifiez ce qui comprend vraiment :

1. Est-ce pour toute la procédure, y compris le procès, et en avez-vous vraiment besoin?

2. S’il s’agit d’une partie de la procédure, quelle partie est incluse?

3. Y a-t-il des frais supplémentaires pour d’autres procédures facultatives?

4. Payez-vous le temps de déplacement, les frais de déplacement ou d’autres débours?

5. L’avocat a-t-il clairement indiqué tous ses honoraires par écrit?

Aussi attrayant qu’un honoraire forfaitaire peut sembler, quelquefois un taux horaire peut être moins dispendieux dépendant de votre cas puisque vous utilisez seulement les services dont vous avez besoin. Demandez à n’importe quel avocat éventuel le pour et le contre d’un honoraire forfaitaire ou d’un taux horaire.

4. Prendre ses chances au procès est toujours le meilleur plan

La façon la plus sûre de vous coûter beaucoup plus d’argent pour un avocat qu’il n’en faut, et d’obtenir un résultat inférieur, est de penser qu’il est préférable de toujours aller un procès. Il est vrai que la preuve hors de tout doute raisonnable est une norme élevée que la Couronne doit respecter. Et votre avocat vous dira à quel point la preuve de la Couronne est solide ou faible.

Cependant, insister sur un procès alors qu’un bon accord de plaidoyer est possible vous coûtera certainement beaucoup plus d’argent que l’accord (généralement proportionnel au nombre de jours de procès requis), et pourrait faire toute la différence entre la prison ou pas de prison, ou la libération par rapport à la condamnation, parce que le procès signifie que vous ne concluez pas une entente de réduction de sanction avec la Couronne, et le juge du procès ne vous accorde pas non plus de réduction pour un plaidoyer précoce parce que vous avez pris du temps au procès.

Oui, vous avez toujours la chance d’être acquittés lors d’un procès, mais c’est ce que c’est : un pari. Vous pourriez être chanceux ou malchanceux avec le juge que vous obtenez. Vous pourriez être chanceux ou malchanceux quant à ce que les témoins se souviennent. Tout au plus, vous allez payer beaucoup plus en frais.

Souvenez-vous, en tant qu’avocat criminaliste, je me supporte ainsi que ma famille avec ceux qui décident de payer plus en allant au procès. Mais il est de mon devoir d’obtenir pour vous le meilleur résultat possible et non seulement apporter votre cas au procès à l’aveuglette pour vous facturer un plus gros montant. Quelquefois, des procès sont nécessaires. J’en ai fait des centaines. Mais souvent ils ne sont pas nécessaires et cela vous économisera beaucoup d’argent.

5. Pas besoin de trop s’inquiéter avec les résultats du procès puisque je peux toujours faire appel

Votre meilleure chance légale est toujours au procès par rapport à un appel, si vous n’êtes pas en mesure de résoudre votre cas avant le procès. Au procès, il y a au moins un niveau théorique de jeu. En appel, selon les statistiques de la Cour d’appel de l’Ontario, vous aurez au mieux une chance sur trois. Et ce n’est pas pour l’acquittement, seulement pour obtenir un remède. Peut-être seulement une peine réduite. Ou peut-être un nouveau procès, qui vous coûtera beaucoup plus d’argent.

Soyez assuré que des appels ne sont pas donnés. Pour la plupart, les appels coûtent plus que les procès à cause des coûts de transcription du procès ainsi que tout le temps nécessaire pour la préparation des documents légaux et l’examination des toutes les pièce à conviction de première instance.

Donc, pensez à un appel comme votre dernière ressource. Si vous faites face à des accusations sérieuses, vous aurez besoin de budgéter à l’avance pour un appel en plus du procès afin de diminuer les risques de passer une décennie en prison si vous perdez le procès. Cependant, si votre budget est serré, vous devriez définitivement investir dans un bon avocat criminaliste pour vous défendre le plus tôt possible.

Gordon Scott Campbell est un avocat crimininaliste qui représente des clients pour des accusations de nature criminelle, des audiences sur la réglementation et la conduite professionnelle, des procès et des appels dans tout le Canada jusqu'au niveau de la Cour Suprême du Canada. Il a précédemment servi en tant que procureur de la Couronne fédérale et est l'auteur du livre Le manuel juridique de l'enquêteur (Yvon Blais, 2010). Pour en apprendre plus, visiter www.defenceeast.com et www.proconductlaw.com

Top 5 Tips on How to Write Like a Lawyer, and Why You Never, Never, Ever Want to Do That, Even if You're a Lawyer

With everyone lately being forced to communicate at greater socially appropriate distances, some communication has naturally regressed from the verbal to the written. While writing was the bomb prior to the 20th century advent of the telephone and speedy forms of transport technology which collectively enabled everyone to suddenly talk each other’s ears off both remotely and face to face without undertaking potentially multi-day arduous journeys, writing never truly went away, but arguably might have no longer been a primary means of long distance communication.

Certainly the “advocacy” part of the legal profession where I’ve spent most of my professional life arguing civil, family and criminal cases tends to be a very oral in-person experience. However, oral advocacy has recently pretty much ceased to exist for all (at least Canadian) lawyers as courthouses completely shut down.

Appeal courts which used to accord lawyers an hour or two for an in-person audience to hit the highlights of their pitches that were already filed in writing are now encouraging no oral presentations at all so as to expedite the backlog of cases. Even trial courts are trying to do a lot more in writing other than the actual trials themselves.

Thus there appears to be a resurgence of the written word, from the most innocuous silly social text messaging, to legal professionals no longer having the option of meeting face to face across a courtroom and being compelled to write to each other (even if just by email). Here’s a repost of what may be my most popular blog post ever, on my top 5 tips for how to write like a lawyer, and why you never, never, ever want to do that, even if you’re a lawyer.

TIP # 1 - Use "said" in the most superfluous ways possible. Bonus points if you can use "said" more three times or more in a single sentence. As in: "The said Plaintiff executed said contract by appending his usual and customary signature to said documentary exhibit, referred to hereinafter as the documentary exhibit." Using "said" many, many times will imbue your document with legal magic, letting you charge far more than is usual for such a work of literary genius. Clients may assume that without the said "saids" the document might have been invalid, or at least be far less scholarly in nature, or at least cheaper to produce.

TIP #2 - Write out all numerical references in both words and numerals, so as to be as redundant as possible, and risk having the words and numbers not match, thus creating many subsequent work opportunities for solicitors to render legal opinions on those discrepancies, and barristers to seek judicial pronouncements on them. As in: "The purchaser shall pay One Hundred and Twenty Seven Thousand Dollars ($1,270,000.00) in Canadian currency to the seller in exchange for title to said land."

TIP #3 - Utilize as complicated word and sentence structures as possible, as clients will be impressed that you're able to figure out the meaning of the documents you're creating since they can't possibly follow the meanings themselves. As in: "The party of the first party, hereinafter the First Party, and hereforeto the sub-leasee, in the above-captioned matter..."

TIP #4 - Write "WITHOUT PREJUDICE" at the top right of every letter or other document you create. This will imbue the document with magical qualities even greater than those created by the superfluous use of the word "said," so that you can say whatever you want, and it will never be held against you. It will be like the document is the Invisible Man, both there and not there. 

TIP #5 - Write "DO GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY" at the bottom left of every letter you create. Make sure it's always all in capitals and in bold. The capitals and bold are vital, otherwise it won't legally work like it's supposed to work. Closing your letters with this, instead of or in addition to the boring and prosaic "Sincerely" or "Your truly" will compel people to do whatever you're asking of them in the letter. Even if they don't want to do it, they'll feel unable to stop themselves. Demands for payments of money. Demands to take long walks off short piers. They'll all be met with a cheerful smile and nod of the head if you use this age old legal phrase. 

As a longstanding teacher of legal writing, and fan of the plain language legal writing movement, it pains me that young law students continue to believe that the features I mention above make them sound more like a lawyer, or worse still that broadly using such words enhances legal results. It's been a long personal journey of recovery for me to rid myself of such habits, and it can still be a struggle to resist the impulse to sound lawyerly. 

How Much Does a Professional Conduct Lawyer Cost in Canada? Maybe Nothing. Or Not Much. A Litigator Gives You His Top 5 Tips on Saving Money When You're Facing Legal Challenges Related to Your Work

As profession and workplace upheaval could reach unprecedented levels during the most economically adverse times in living memory, you might resultantly find yourself having to come to grips with legal problems in your chosen vocation. Those problems could take a myriad of civil, administrative, health or disciplinary forms. I know lots of folks - lawyers included - who will try to tough out those problems by themselves, fearing cost or publicity associated with seeking outside help. 

However after 25 years both as a regulated professional (working with governments and private clients) and a professional conduct lawyer helping others with their work-related legal issues, I’ve come to appreciate that a little professional conduct legal help can go a long way. Perhaps a longer way than in most other areas of the law, as work conduct issues usually don’t involve court-based processes with long expensive timelines. But likewise because of their informality these processes can encompass a myriad of unwritten or vague rules that may be hard to pin down unless you’ve been through the same process lots of times before. 

While “procedural fairness” may be the touch phrase everyone’s spouting, there unfortunately can be a lot of disagreement over what does and doesn’t amount to such fairness. Thus I present to you my top five tips on saving yourself lots of money on a professional conduct lawyer when you need one. 

TIP #1 - CHECK WITH YOUR INSURER

More professions include some limited insurance coverage for conduct matters than you might think, but the coverage (or lack thereof) varies greatly. Some coverage is limited to only professional negligence, however there could be bleed through between issues of negligence and conduct. Sometimes certain kinds of conduct coverage is optional, but you might have the optional coverage without knowing. It pays to check, dig, and push a little with your insurer on coverage. I’ve helped professionals with amazing collaborative insurers, where my help didn’t cost them a penny. 

TIP #2 - CHECK WITH YOUR UNION

There’s absolutely no incompatibility between the word “union” and the word “profession.” Lots of professionals are unionized, especially in the government sector. Sometimes a union might simply pay for a private lawyer for you, other times you might get help from an in-house union lawyer. Like for your insurer, you might again need to dig and push on coverage. But unions could be more flexible than insurers when it comes to helping those who really need help. 

TIP #3 - CHECK WITH YOUR EMPLOYER

Regardless of whether you are or aren’t unionized, your employer could have a duty to provide you legal coverage if your professional difficulties arose during the course of your work. Employer-paid coverage can be even more challenging to negotiate than that paid by an insurer or union, but again digging for precedents - who got coverage in the past - and pushing, which could go so far as grieving a refusal, could pay great benefits. 

TIP #4 - RETAIN A LAWYER TO PURSUE COVERAGE

It’s an irony that you might need to retain a lawyer to pursue free coverage for a lawyer in whatever work situation you find yourself in. But it can be worth it, since that initial lawyer seeking free coverage for you probably won’t cost very much if the retainer is limited to negotiations on coverage.

Sometimes your insurer/union/employer might be accept you’re entitled to legal coverage for some services, and not others. But again, you could push - saying for example, that if the facts of the matter all fall within your work, and there is an admission you should be entitled to some coverage, then more expansive coverage actually won’t cost the payor any additional funds. 

You might even wind up with some coverage from an insurer, some from a union, some from an employer, and some you need to pay for yourself. 

TIP #5 - RETAIN A LAWYER EARLY & PICK ONE WHO WILL COLLABORATE WITH YOU

Even if you’re stuck with footing the bill yourself, your legal budget will stretch much further the earlier you reach out to hire a professional conduct lawyer, even if that sounds counterintuitive. It might be possible for your lawyer to quickly kill off proceedings before they ever get going, because they are based on information that isn’t credible or a simple misunderstanding. 

Your legal fees will also be much lower if you find a lawyer who is willing to collaborate with you by offering unbundled legal services, where perhaps you do most of the contact with your regulator or employer, and the lawyer just provides background advice and direction. I never offer that kind of service to non-professional clients simply because by the time I explain how to do things, and then fix their mistakes, it will cost those non-professional clients more in the end. However for professionals I’m always keen to collaborate as my clients are well organized with their information, know their regulator and/or employer better than I ever will, and are usually careful as to how they express themselves to others about their legal situation. 

Gordon Scott Campbell represents law enforcement officers, public servants, and private sector professionals throughout Canada in conduct, administrative, civil and criminal proceedings. He is author of The Investigator’s Legal Handbook series of books, and has served as a Federal Crown Prosecutor, Member Representative with the RCMP, and Counsel at the Military Police Complaints Commission. Learn more at www.proconductlaw.com. 

Top Five Criminal Defence Myths to Avoid: A Barrister Explains How to Save Money While Still Getting an Optimal Result

Despite these challenging times, the wheels of justice continue to turn. Albeit perhaps a bit more slowly than usual.

Even though you’re hardly leaving the house, you might still find yourself in need of a criminal or regulatory defence lawyer. And now is definitely not a time anyone wants to be detained in custody (not that anyone ever wants that).  It’s understandable you could be particularly stressed about how you can afford a lawyer when every dollar counts.

You might be shocked to learn that criminal law is the bargain basement fire sale of the legal world. I’ve more than once had people casually mention to me with complete certainty at social gatherings how they know criminal lawyers are the richest of all lawyers, while the reality of them being the poorest paid of all the legal specialties is exactly the opposite. I’m never sure where people get that impression from, since watching cops and robbers shows usually doesn't reveal lifestyles of the rich public defender (which perhaps seems more reserved on TV for civil and family litigators). But nonetheless, that’s the impression. 

However, the true reality of criminal lawyer fees is good news for anyone in Canada charged with or being investigated for an offence, or with a family member, loved one or friend in that position. The secret to this criminal law bargain is predictability and efficiency in criminal court procedure.

Unlike in family or civil litigation, where it’s mostly private litigants butting heads who can and do spend each other into the ground if they so chose, in criminal litigation you’re up against the Crown. While there is some variability in the way the Crown might respond depending on who is the individual Crown assigned to your file, they still in theory all have to play fair and follow lots of rules. And if they don’t, you can turn to the courts for help. I served for many years as a Federal Crown myself, so I’m speaking from experience. 

Here are my top five myths to avoid on defending a criminal charge and hiring a criminal lawyer that can all cost you plenty in the end if you fall into their traps.

1. I’m Guilty So I Don’t Need a Lawyer 

What you “did” or didn’t do may have little bearing on a court being able to convict you of what you are accused of. Even if you “did” something, you might be charged with an offence completely unrelated to that something. Or charged with many offences unrelated to anything you did. Or there may be major technical problems with the charges, like their being laid outside the limitation periods. 

Even if you do ultimately plead guilty, the type of punishment you get can vary from potentially wrecking your life to having only innocuous effects, all without jail being a risk on either end of the punishment spectrum. For example, if you don’t have a criminal record, and you get offered a harmless little sounding thing called a “suspended sentence,” you might think you should jump at it, because there’s no jail and no fine!

But what if you then lose your job or can’t travel internationally, because you’ve suddenly got a criminal record? The small amount of money you might have saved on not hiring a lawyer will be more than set off by potentially huge loss of income or life freedoms.

A lawyer might have been able to get you a “discharge” for exactly the same conduct, which wouldn’t be a criminal conviction counting against you. Or could at least explain and negotiate all the possible outcomes in order to get the optimal one for you, that would best fit your life circumstances.

2. Always Hire the Lawyer Who Guarantees a Result

It’s never a bargain to hire a lawyer who is offering you “guarantees” they can’t uphold. Run away from any criminal lawyer as fast as you can who guarantees you a result. Trust me, that just isn’t possible. Criminal law results are ultimately up to the judge hearing your case, even on a guilty plea where the Crown is in agreement with the defence as to sanction.

If anything, you want to hire the lawyer who tells you the truth, not what you want to hear. 

That doesn’t mean you should hire (or keep) anyone who you feel is unreasonably pressuring your to plead guilty, by telling you you’re guaranteed to lose at trial. It’s always completely your choice on whether or not to plead. Your lawyer can only give you advice. It’s always better going to trial and losing, than pleading guilty to something you didn’t do. 

3. The Cheapest/Most Expensive Lawyer is Always the Best

In law, like in many things in life, you don’t always get what you pay (or don’t pay) for. There are no law society rules in Canada dictating what defence lawyers can and can’t charge. The market sets their rates. 

Certainly defence lawyers have to be competitive. But you’ll need to carefully compare fee quotes to see what is or isn’t being included in the quote. This isn’t like buying a car, where the brochure carefully explains the extra options of each more expensive trim level.

The cheapest lawyer quote risks not including all the services you need, or having hidden extras. The most expensive lawyer quote risks you buying more services than you need. And neither cheapness nor expense may be tightly tied to experience, where while one might think the cheap lawyers are the least experienced and the most expensive are the most experienced, that isn’t always true, and especially may not translate into who can achieve what results for you. 

Most agree that a “block” flat legal fee quote is best where possible for criminal court cases (and is a thing most criminal lawyers will provide), but check what that really includes:

• is it for the entire proceeding including the trial and do you really need that?

• if it is for part of the proceeding, how much of the proceeding is included?

• are there extra charges for other optional proceedings?

• are you paying for travel time, travel costs, or other disbursement?s

• does the lawyer clearly set out all her or his fees in writing?

And as attractive as a block fee might be, sometimes an hourly rate might actually be cheapest for you depending on your type of case as it lets you only use the services you need. Ask any prospective lawyer about the pros and cons of block fees versus hourly rates. 

4. Rolling the Dice at Trial is Always the Best Plan

The most certain way to cost yourself way more money on a defence lawyer than needs to be spent, and get an inferior result, is to think it best to always gamble with a trial. True, proof beyond a reasonable doubt is a high standard for the Crown to meet. And your lawyer will tell you how strong or weak the Crown’s case is.

But insisting on a trial where a good early plea resolution deal is to be had will definitely cost you way more money than resolving (generally proportionate to the number of trial days required), and could make all the difference between jail or no jail, or discharge versus conviction, because going to trial means you’re not cutting a discount deal with the Crown, and the trial judge likewise isn’t giving you a discount for an early plea because you’ve taken up trial time. 

Yes, you’ll always have a shot at an acquittal at trial. But that’s what it is: a gamble. You might get lucky or unlucky with the judge you get. You might get lucky or unlucky as to what witnesses remember. But at the very least, you’ll pay a lot more in fees. 

Remember, as a criminal defence lawyer, I support myself and my family from those who do pay more by going to trial. But it’s my duty to get you the optimal result, not to needlessly take your case to trial so that I can bill you more. Sometimes trials are absolutely needed. I’ve done hundreds of them. But often they aren’t required, and that will save you lots of money.

5. No Need to Worry Too Much About the Trial Result Since You Can Always Appeal

Your best legal shot is always at trial as compared to an appeal, if you can’t resolve your case pre-trial. At trial, there is an at least in theory level playing filed. On appeal, according to Court of Appeal for Ontario statistic you’ll at best stand a 1 in 3 shot. And that’s not of acquittal, only of getting some remedy. Maybe only a reduced sentence. Or maybe a new trial, which will cost you lots more money. 

And be certain that appeals are definitely not cheap. For the most part, they cost more than trials, because of the transcript costs of all the trial proceedings, and because of all the time that is required to be devoted to drafting complex legal written submissions and combing through all trial exhibits. 

So think of an appeal as a last resort. Yes, if you’re facing really serious charges, you might need to budget in advance for an appeal in addition to the trial in order to lesson the risk of a decade in jail if you lose the trial. But if your budget is tight, it’s definitely the trial rather than the appeal that you should be investing in by hiring a good lawyer at earliest time possible.

Gordon Scott Campbell is a defence lawyer who represents clients on criminal, regulatory and professional conduct hearings, trials and appeals throughout Canada up to the level of the Supreme Court of Canada. He previously served as a Federal Crown Prosecutor and is author of The Investigator’s Legal Handbook/Le manuel juridique de l’enquêteur (Carswell/Yvon Blais, 2006, 2010 francais, 2014 2nd ed, 3rd ed forthcoming). Learn more at www.defenceeast.com and www.proconductlaw.com.

Is Family Law Still Functioning in the Pandemic? Top 3 Tips from a Canadian Family Lawyer on Resolving Family Law Issues Notwithstanding the Public Health Crisis

Lawyers are supposed to know a lot of words. Some might say we are all words (plus occasionally a lot of hot air). But I nonetheless needed to do some online digging to discover that Gideon Harvey explained as far back as 1675 in The disease of London that “Epidemick” and “Pandemick” were different things, though back then both were only used as adjectives rather than nouns. 

Now that we all know just how severely a pandemic can affect the functioning of society, where does that leave us with family law? If law is the glue that holds society together - sometimes more firmly than at other times - what are those with family law issues supposed to do with lawyers working from home and courts greatly limiting physical access? 

The good news is that “the law” itself is not at all affected by disease, other than in being progressively modified to meet the needs of its users. In a shockingly quick way. Where there have been calls for decades for the justice system to do much more with electronic rather than paper records, and  by way of virtual rather than physical presence, it’s taken a pandemic to essentially accomplish in two weeks what couldn’t be done in two decades. 

So what are those needing to use the family law system supposed to do in these exceptional times? What kinds of legal results can they expect, and are there any workarounds? 

Here’s my take on pandemic crashing into family law, as a family lawyer practicing in Ontario. Effects and solutions may be different elsewhere. Though I'm reassured from reading the very detailed “The Remote Access Family Court” just released today by Mr. Justice MacDonald of the United Kingdom’s Courts and Tribunals Judiciary that all courts, lawyers and litigants are facing similar issues, and working furiously (and surprisingly efficiently) to change legislation, implement technology, and simply be creative to solve the problems presented by the interruption of a largely in-person and on paper legal system that has persisted unchanged for centuries. 

1. YOU CAN STILL NEGOTIATE A LEGALLY BINDING FAMILY LAW AGREEMENT

The cheapest and most effective way to solve family law problems has always been through negotiations rather than going to court. As a lawyer who mainly deals with high conflict, transnational and appellate family disputes, I know as well as anyone that negotiation has its limits when one or both parties dig in on particular positions. 

But since lawyers are still out there practicing - they just might be doing so from home or virtually from their existing offices - there is nothing stopping clients from contacting them to work things out with the other side of family transitions. Separation agreements and other forms of family contracts were already being largely drafted through cloud based software. Lawyers and self-reps were already negotiating resolutions by phone, video or email rather than in person. 

So there’s nothing stopping you from creating lasting family law settlements, including exchanging financial disclosure, despite the recent extraordinary events. Reach out to a lawyer if you need one. With the cancellation of all trial dates (at least in Ontario), you might find family lawyers easier to get hold of than usual. Or apply to legal aid if you can’t afford a lawyer, applications are still being taken, and legal aid is still operating in a remote way.

2. YOU CAN STILL SEEK EMERGENCY FAMILY LAW RELIEF FROM THE COURTS

Depending on where you are, many courthouses remain operating, because of how essential they are to the ongoing orderly functioning of society. While civil disputes in courthouses may have temporarily dropped off the map, and criminal cases might only be treading water other than for bail hearings, courts are definitely still hearing urgent family and child protection matters, thought that may be through video or teleconference means.

The challenges right now for anyone with a family law problem needing court intervention is demonstrating to the court that your matter truly is “urgent.” There’s no ideal definition out there of “urgency.” A lot rests on how your pitch your matter, and the discretion of the courts. 

But submitting an urgent case because of child abduction, dissipation of family assets, complete denial of access, or complete destitution leading to being unable to support yourself or your children might still be heard. Judges are still working. Court clerks are still processing cases. A lot just comes down to inherent inefficiencies because of a system that was still based on paper all of a sudden being catapulted into the 21st century, without the hardware, software, training, and protocols already being in place to deal with that. 

Urgent cases can be filed by email to the courts, with documents being served on other parties by email. But rules on such service and filing are evolving every day. Contact your lawyer or if you are self-represented in Ontario you can call a brand new (as of today) Law Society Emergency Family Referral Line during business hours at 1-800-268-7568 for assistance. 

3. FAMILY COURTS ARE STILL HOLDING HEARINGS BY VIDEO AND TELECONFERENCE

Family court judges are all still out there wanting to help you with your problems. That’s their job. The problem is that they are used to seeing litigants and lawyers in person. And all their files are on paper, locked away in courthouses. 

But judges and their courts are adapting. Zoom and Skype for Business seem to currently be the preferred means of holding virtual video family court hearings. And even teleconference can work for more procedural types of applications that involve legal argument rather than live witnesses. 

Once we emerge from the health crisis, I predict there may be no going back to the Charles Dickens Victorian courts practices of paper and people all jammed together in one room competing for a single judge’s attention. I’d certainly not be in favour of an (electronic) paper only process, even for technical cases only involving affidavits. Everyone needs her or his day in court, and the process of dialogue between judges and the parties appearing before them is vital to ensure that all questions a court might have about evidence and submissions are answered prior to final judgment being rendered. But there is not reason a complete dialogue can’t be had by virtual means, and the courts appear to be moving rapidly to provide that.

Gordon Scott Campbell practices trial and appellate family law throughout Ontario. Learn more at www.nofearfamilylaw.com