c/legal-advice-gta

Is a verbal agreement to split legal costs binding in Ontario or just a handshake?

I'm in a bit of a weird spot and wanted to get other opinions. My buddy and I got into a minor fender bender in Mississauga last month, not our fault. The other guy's insurance is fighting us. My buddy said we'd split the cost of a lawyer 50/50 if it went that far, all verbal, no text or email. Now we're looking at a $2,000 retainer and he's acting like he doesn't remember saying that. I think a verbal deal should hold up if you both agreed face to face, but he's saying without a written thing it's nothing. Which side is right here? Has anyone ever gotten a friend to pay up on a verbal promise in small claims?

Hot take: Paying $500 for a lawyer to fight a $150 noise ticket was worth it for me, but could backfire for most people

Overheard a guy at the courthouse say he's been filing his own motions for 7 years

He claimed he saved like $15,000 in lawyer fees by just reading the rules of civil procedure online. Has anyone else tried doing that in Ontario for small claims stuff?

Showerthought: did the city actually fix that pothole on Queen Street or just paint over it?

I saw the city patch a pothole on Queen Street near Spadina last month and now it's already cracking again, so is the new asphalt just cheaper material or did they rush the job to save money?

That legal document service online turned out to be a complete waste of $120

I needed a simple will done for my property in Mississauga and figured an online template service would save money over a lawyer. Paid $120 for a package that claimed to be Ontario compliant, but when I showed it to a friend who practices law, she pointed out three errors in the witness clause. Ended up paying a paralegal $250 to fix it all proper. Has anyone else had trouble with those cheap online legal forms?

Changed my mind about small claims court after a buddy's story

I always thought small claims court was a waste of time for anything under a grand, but my coworker Mike took a landlord to court over a $800 security deposit in Scarborough. He said the forms were dead simple and he won in 20 minutes without a lawyer. Has anyone else had luck with that process for like damage deposits or contractor disputes?

That $200 'Legal Document Review' service I almost ignored

I got a letter from a lawyer about a property dispute last month. My first thought was to just reply myself and save the money. But a buddy in the GTA legal field told me to at least get it looked at by a proper service. I paid $200 to have a paralegal review the whole thing. Turns out the letter had a deadline buried in the fine print that I would have missed completely. Has anyone else here nearly skipped professional review and regretted it?

Realized I was filing all my small claims paperwork wrong for years

I had a dispute with a landlord in Scarborough about a $600 deposit I never got back. I went to the courthouse and this clerk looked at my forms and just sighed. She pointed out I was putting the defendant's name in the wrong field on every single form (it's a common mistake apparently). I had been doing this for at least 5 previous cases over the years (yes, I've had a lot of rental issues). She told me they reject about 40 percent of filings because of that one mistake. Has anyone else found a tiny detail that kept tripping them up in the Ontario small claims process?

Has anyone here worked with Top Criminal Lawyers?

Hey everyone, I have a family member who got into some trouble recently (nothing violent, but serious enough to need good representation). We are looking around for a solid defense attorney in the area. Has anyone here worked with Top Criminal Lawyers? They seem to have good reviews online, but I wanted to hear if anyone has actual firsthand experience with them before we commit to a heavy retainer.