Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Policy

Policy Statement

NEO Legal Services Professional Corporation (“NEO”, “we”) is a paralegal firm licensed and regulated by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO). Our purpose is to make everyday legal help affordable and predictable for people and small businesses across Ontario. This policy sets out how we manage the environmental, social and governance issues that matter most to a small, virtual-first legal practice, what we commit to, and how we measure and report on it.

It covers everyone who works for or with NEO, including licensees, staff and contractors, and the service providers we rely on. It sits alongside our Workplace Health & Safety Policy, Accessibility Policy, Diversity & Inclusion statement, Privacy Policy and Anti-Spam Policy.

How We Decide What Matters

For a professional services firm, the issues with the most impact are not smokestacks but people, information and integrity. We follow the disclosure topics the SASB standard for professional and commercial services identifies as most relevant: data security, workforce diversity and engagement, and professional integrity. To these we add the duties specific to an Ontario legal practice: protecting money held in trust for clients, knowing who our clients are, access to justice, and the responsible use of AI. We also manage our modest environmental footprint, and we measure it before we make any claim about it.

Environmental

Our practice is designed to be virtual-first, which shapes our footprint.

• Remote by default. Consultations are by video or phone by default, and hearings are remote where the court or tribunal allows.
• Paperless files. Retainer agreements and documents are signed electronically, and client files are kept in our practice platform rather than on paper. We print when a court, tribunal, client or our record-keeping rules require it.
• Digital services. We prefer cloud providers that publish their own sustainability and energy commitments, and we review those providers each year.
• Equipment. We keep devices in service for their useful life. When they reach the end of it, we will have them securely wiped and recycled through a recycler that certifies data destruction, so that no client information leaves with them.
• Measuring before claiming. We will measure our greenhouse-gas emissions using the GHG Protocol and publish our first baseline here. Until we have measured it, we make no claim that our operations are “green”, “carbon neutral” or “net zero”, and any future environmental claim will be backed by the evidence the Competition Act requires.

Social

Access to justice

• Clear prices. We publish our fixed fees and quote before we start, so clients know what their matter will cost. Initial consultations are free.
• Pro bono. Through our pro bono program we give summary advice to people who don’t qualify for legal aid, run free legal-literacy sessions, and take on matters of public interest.
• Plain language. Our free knowledge base explains Ontario law in plain words, and our free tools help people understand their options before they spend anything.
• Scope of practice. We act only within the scope the LSO sets for licensed paralegals. We are reviewing our published services against it, and we refer matters outside it to a lawyer.

Clients

• Accessibility. We meet our duties under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, provide accessible formats and communication supports on request, and are working toward WCAG 2.1 Level AA on our website and portal. See our Accessibility Policy.
• Language. Our portal offers machine translation to help clients read messages and documents in their own language. It is never a substitute for a certified translation of a legal document, and we tell clients so.
• Complaints. Clients can raise a concern with the principal at any time, and we respond in writing. Anyone may also contact the Law Society of Ontario about a licensee.

Our people

• Health and safety. We meet the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and we registered with the WSIB voluntarily (account 2155802), applying for coverage under section 74 of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997. See our Workplace Health & Safety Policy.
• Respect. Workplace violence and harassment are not tolerated, and anyone can report a concern without fear of reprisal.
• Fair hiring and pay. We hire on merit, follow the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and Ontario’s Human Rights Code, and set pay by role and experience.
• Learning. Our licensees complete the continuing professional development the LSO requires, including the professionalism hours and any Indigenous cultural competency training it requires, and we support training beyond the minimum.
• Inclusion. We aim for a team that reflects the communities we serve. See our Diversity & Inclusion statement.

Community

• We offer free legal-information sessions to community groups and schools, starting with tenants’ and employees’ rights.
• We support the profession’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 27, through training and by working to make our services culturally safe for Indigenous clients.

Governance

Accountability

The principal of the corporation, a licensed paralegal, is accountable for this policy, for the firm’s compliance with the LSO’s by-laws and the Paralegal Rules of Conduct, and for reporting on the commitments below. As the firm grows, responsibility for parts of this policy will be delegated in writing, with the principal keeping overall oversight.

Client money and trust accounting

• Money held for clients is kept in a separate trust account and used only as By-Law 9 permits, never for the firm’s own expenses, its investors or its lenders. When our checks find an error, we correct it and keep a record.
• Our practice platform compares the bank balance, the trust books and every client ledger each month, runs automated checks against the LSO’s trust-accounting requirements (By-Law 9) every day, and, since October 2026, keeps a numbered register of electronic trust transfer requisitions.
• Our standard is to complete and sign each monthly trust reconciliation within the 25 days the LSO allows, and our tools remind us on the 1st, 20th and 26th of each month. We never backdate a record.

Knowing our clients

• We identify and verify our clients as the LSO’s client identification and verification requirements (By-Law 7.1) require, using an identity check when a client signs up, and we keep the records for the required period.
• We keep a written client contingency plan, as By-Law 7.1 requires, naming who would look after clients’ files and trust money if the principal could not, and we review it at least once a year.
• We check for conflicts of interest before taking on any matter.

Privacy and information security

• We handle personal information as the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and our duty of confidentiality require, collect only what we need, and explain our practices in our Privacy Policy.
• Access to client information is limited by role: staff see only the matters they work on, and financial records are restricted to administrators. Connections are encrypted, and sensitive credentials and identifiers are encrypted when stored.
• We review our security controls at least once a year, fix weaknesses we find, and will notify affected people and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada of any breach that creates a real risk of significant harm, as PIPEDA requires.
• Some of the service providers we rely on, such as cloud hosting, payment, identity-verification and AI providers, may store or process information outside Canada, including in the United States. We choose them carefully, and our Privacy Policy will list the kinds of providers we use and where they process information.

Responsible use of artificial intelligence

• AI tools help us read documents, draft and research. AI drafts used in client work are reviewed by a licensed paralegal before they are relied on or sent to anyone. Clients can also use a general-information assistant in their portal, which tells them to check important points.
• Our tools are instructed never to invent case citations and to flag work outside a paralegal’s scope. In our document tools, sensitive numbers such as SINs, card and bank numbers in document text are masked by default before it is sent to an AI (photos and scans of pages are sent as they are), and requests through our AI assistant, copilot and court-form tools are logged.
• We follow the LSO’s guidance on licensees’ use of generative AI, including our duties of competence, confidentiality and supervision.

Integrity in marketing and dealings

• Our marketing must be true, accurate and verifiable, as the Paralegal Rules of Conduct require. We don’t promise outcomes, and we review our website claims at least once a year.
• Commercial email follows Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL): we send it only with consent and honour every unsubscribe at once. See our Anti-Spam Policy.
• We do not offer or accept bribes or improper benefits, and we share fees and pay referral fees only as the LSO’s rules allow.
• Anyone can raise a concern about our conduct in confidence with the principal at info@neolegalservices.com. We will not retaliate against anyone who raises a concern in good faith.

Investors and lenders

• Only licensees may own shares in a professional corporation, so outside investors could take part only through loans or notes at a fixed rate. Interest would be paid from the firm’s own revenue, never from trust money, and would never be a share of legal fees.
• We do not borrow from our clients. Any investment would be available only to people who qualify under a prospectus exemption, and only through written agreements. See Investor Relations.

What We Measure and Report

We will report on the measures below on this page each year, starting with our 2026 figures.

Review

We review this policy at least once a year, and whenever our practice, our service providers or the law changes. Last reviewed: October 2026. Next review: October 2027.

Contact

• NEO Legal Services Professional Corporation: info@neolegalservices.com · (888) 519-2435
• Law Society of Ontario: lso.ca