Contingency Fee Arrangements

In personal injury cases, we often work on a contingency fee arrangement. If your case is successful, our legal fees will be paid out of the amount you recover from the other side in a settlement or after a trial.

If your case is not successful, you will not have to pay our legal fees. Note that, if you are unsuccessful in any lawsuit, there is a risk that you will have to pay the legal fees of the other side in the litigation.  We will explain this risk to you in further detail in your initial meeting and will assist you in managing and mitigating this risk.

What is the maximum contingency fee percentage we will charge for your case?

• *Note, in addition to our contingency fee percentage outlined above, you will be required to pay disbursements incurred on your behalf at the conclusion of your case.
• The contingency fee percentage to be charged will be determined based on a number of factors, including the likelihood of success, the nature and complexity of the claim, the expense and risk of pursuing it, the amount of the expected recovery and who is to receive an award of costs.
• You will also be required to pay applicable HST on our contingency fee percentage and disbursements.
• Please note that, should the matter go to a trial, we do reserve our right to receive the costs awarded by the Court instead of the contingency fee percentage outlined above.
• If you do not think your case falls into one of the above type of cases, do not hesitate to ask if we can work on a contingency fee arrangement.
• We will provide you with an account statement in writing setting out the amount billed for legal fees and disbursements.

Know Your Rights’ Guide from the Law Society of Ontario

The Law Society of Ontario has published a guide titled “Contingency fees: What you need to know.”  The guide can help you to:

• understand your rights;
• ask important questions;
• understand the different types of contingency fee agreements;
• compare what different lawyers are offering; and
• decide if contingency fees are right for you.

The Guide also sets out some examples of how contingency fees work and provides some questions to ask when you are comparing contingency fees.

We recommend that you read the Law Society of Ontario’s guide carefully before you enter into any agreement about contingency fees.  Click here to access the Law Society of Ontario’s Guide.

Frequently Asked Questions about Contingency Fees

The Law Society of Ontario has published Frequently Asked Questions that may be of assistance to you in understanding the contingency fee regime.  Click here to access.