Our advance law suit fees are inclusive of disbursements and apply only if court proceedings are required in Provincial or Supreme Court. Once a file goes to suit, we require the following suit fees, which are recoupable (* see explanation below) against our contingency fee:
 
FOR SMALL CLAIMS up to $25,000 our suit fee is a flat $2,500 and includes all litigation steps and hearings leading to judgment (except for a full trial):

• Preparing, Filing and Serving the Lawsuit, including the disbursements
  (Disbursements are the actual hard costs involved in filing and serving the lawsuit,
  which are usually between $500 and $600):

            (one half of the retainer, $1,250 will be billed after service of the filed lawsuit is sent              for service);

• Obtaining Default Judgment (if no appearance or reply is filed);
  Responding to application to a contestation and making application for payment out of court;

• Obtaining Pre-Judgment Garnishing Order
  In certain cases, we can obtain a pre-judgment garnishing order that will require the defendant’s bank to pay the amount of the plaintiff’s claim into Court pending the outcome of the litigation (** see explanation below) 

• Attending at the Settlement Conference and/or Mandatory Mediation(s)
  (If the lawsuit is defended);

            (the remaining half of the retainer, $1,250) will be billed after either:

• a garnishing order and/or default judgment is obtained;

• the mediation or settlement conference is completed; and,

Note: If the matter proceeds to trial (which is happens in less than 1% of cases) a further
flat fee of $2,500 will be required for preparing and attending trial. 

* All Advance Fees are Recoupable against our Contingency Fees:

Note that the fee portion of the advance is recoupable from our contingency fee at the conclusion of the law suit. In other words, if our contingency fee at the end of case, is $4000 and the fee portion of the advance law suit (after disbursements) is $2000, we deduct the $2000 advance from the $4000 contingency fee.

** Please Note that a Pre-Judgment Garnishing Order is a very powerful creditor’s remedy that may be available in certain cases, where the following criteria are met:

• The claim is for liquidated damages. This means there is no dispute over liability for the amount claims. For example, products are ordered from a supplier on previously agreed prices; and the products are shipped, delivered but not paid. 

• We have detailed information about the garnishee, which will be the debtor’s bank (or parties that owe the debtor money. Please provide us with copies of the any cheques or wire transfer details at the commencement of the case.

If you have any questions about our fee structure, please call our office
at (604) 688-7374 for further details:

Meldon Ellis
Valerie Lloyd
Gisele Summers

Our advance law suit fees are inclusive of disbursements and apply only if court proceedings are required in Provincial or Supreme Court. Once a file goes to suit, we require the following advance suit fees, which are recoupable (* see explanation below) from our contingency fee:

Advance Suit Fee Requirements for Supreme Court actions over $25,000:
We require a $5000 recoupable advance law suit fee retainer (the Advance Fee retainer)
made payable to our trust account against which certain flat fees will be charged for steps
in the litigation.  Typically, the Advance Fee retainer is applied as follows:

• Preparing, Filing and Serving the Lawsuit on the Defendant(s),
  Including disbursements, such as court filing fees and agent charges.
  ($1,250 will be billed after service of the filed lawsuit);

• Obtaining Default Judgment,
  If no appearance or reply is filed preparing, filing and serving the lawsuit, including
  the disbursements ($500 will be billed after filing the garnishing order); and,

• Obtaining and Producing Document Discovery
  ($500 will be billed after filing the garnishing order);

• Preparing and Conducting Examinations for Discovery (Depositions) of the Defendant; And attending at discovery of the plaintiff if required ($1,500 will after the conclusion of the discoveries) - and,

• the balance of the Advance Fee retainer will remain in trust and used as required,
  for other steps in the litigation;

• any unused portion of the Advance Fee Retainer will be refunded to the client,
  if the file is closed; and,

• * all Advance Fees are Recoupable against our Contingency Fees.
  Any fees paid out of the advance fee retainer will be deducted from the contingency fee upon the successful resolution of the case.

For example, if a claim settled for $80,000, our contingency fee of 20% would be $16,000. If $4000 in advance suit fees (not including disbursements) had been charged from the $5000 advance fee retainer, then we will deduct $4000 from the $16,000 contingency fee. 

We will be happy to answer further questions about our fee structures. Please call our office at (604) 688-7374 for further details:

Meldon Ellis
Valerie Lloyd
Gisele Summers