LSO Contingency Fee Addendum

The Law Society of Ontario requires us to provide certain disclosures whenever we enter into a fee arrangement that is considered a contingency fee agreement, even though many of these disclosures may not be relevant to clients of Blakes. Accordingly, the following additional terms will govern this engagement.

Terms Applicable to All Matters

You retain the right to make all critical decisions regarding the conduct of each matter on which you engage us. 

You have the right to request that the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario assess and approve our invoices to you.  Any such request must be made within specified timelines that are set out in the Solicitors Act (Ontario) – at your request, we will advise you of the timelines that would apply in respect of your matter.  

If you are a party under a disability, as defined in the Rules of Civil Procedure of Ontario, and are represented by a litigation guardian, the contingency fee agreement must be approved by a judge before the agreement is finalized or must be reviewed as part of the motion or application for approval of a settlement or consent judgment under rule 7.08 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

You acknowledge that you have been given the opportunity to review the Law Society of Ontario’s consumer guide titled “Contingency Fees: What you need to know”.

Terms Applicable to Litigation Matters Only

In any litigation matter, the court has the discretion to award costs (requiring one party to make a payment on account of another party’s legal fees and other costs incurred in connection with the proceeding) on a partial indemnity, substantial indemnity, or full indemnity basis.  If a court awards costs against you, you would be responsible for paying any such cost award.

If you are responsible for the payment of disbursements or taxes and Blakes pays the disbursements or taxes during the course of the matter, we are entitled to be reimbursed for those payments as a first charge on any amount recovered under an award or settlement of the matter.

If you are a claimant or plaintiff, Blakes may not recover more in contingent fees under this arrangement than the amount recovered by you under an award or settlement from the party or parties against whom the claim was made, including any costs but excluding disbursements and taxes.