If You Have a Problem with a Lawyer: Difference between revisions
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→Is your lawyer’s fee the problem?
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Try either of the following two solutions for a fee problem that you and your lawyer can’t solve: | Try either of the following two solutions for a fee problem that you and your lawyer can’t solve: | ||
# You may be able to use the Law Society’s Fee Mediation Program for disputes | # You may be able to use the [https://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/page.cfm?cid=143&t=Disputes-involving-fees Law Society’s Fee Mediation Program] for disputes between $1,000 and $25,000. It is free. This program works only if your lawyer agrees to use it. If so, the Law Society appoints a mediator to help you reach a settlement. Since the process is voluntary, it works only if you and your lawyer can agree on a settlement. Call the Law Society at 604.669.2533 in the lower mainland and 1.800.903.5300 elsewhere in BC. Or see its [http://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/ website]. | ||
# You can ask a Registrar of the BC Supreme Court to review the bill. This costs $80. Plus you may have to pay your lawyer’s costs if you lose. There is no limit on the amount of the fee. You don’t need your lawyer’s agreement to use this process. You have one year from the date of the bill to apply to the registrar—if you have not already paid it. But if you have already paid the bill, you must apply within three months of paying it. The Registrar holds a hearing where you and your lawyer each give your side of the case. Then the Registrar decides what the fee will be | |||
# You can ask a [http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/supreme_court/practice_and_procedure/registrars_office.aspx Registrar] of the BC Supreme Court to review the bill. This costs $80. Plus you may have to pay your lawyer’s costs if you lose. There is no limit on the amount of the fee. You don’t need your lawyer’s agreement to use this process. You have one year from the date of the bill to apply to the registrar—if you have not already paid it. But if you have already paid the bill, you must apply within three months of paying it. The Registrar holds a hearing where you and your lawyer each give your side of the case. Then the Registrar decides what the fee will be. | |||
For more information on lawyers’ fees, check script [[Lawyers' Fees (Script 438)|438]], called “Lawyers' Fees”. | For more information on lawyers’ fees, check script [[Lawyers' Fees (Script 438)|438]], called “Lawyers' Fees”. | ||
[updated | [updated February 2016] | ||
'''The above was last reviewed for accuracy by Steve Gjukich and edited by John Blois.''' | |||
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