A contingency fee retainer means your legal fees are only payable if we achieve a better result than your employer’s original offer.
The fee applies only to the improvement secured—for example, if the original offer was $30,000 and we obtain $45,000, the fee is calculated as a pre-determined percentage of the $15,000 improvement, plus HST, and plus any disbursements such as filing fees, courier fees, and similar out-of-pocket expenses.
Most clients do not incur disbursements if their matter is resolved prior to commencing a legal proceeding.
The percentage and all terms are agreed to in advance and set out clearly in the retainer agreement.
No Success = No Fee: if we don’t improve your severance package, you owe nothing for the lawyer’s work.
There are limited situations where the early termination of a retainer results in us charging you our hourly rate for work completed. However, this exception is applied fairly and is only reserved for situations where the client terminates the retainer prematurely, where continuing to act would be unethical or impractical, where the lawyer-client relationship has broken down, or where instructions are not provided or accounts are not paid.
You remain in control of all settlement decisions and are never required to accept an offer.
Visit the Law Society of Ontario’s helpful guide for more information – Contingency fees: What you need to know.
