Practise independently, through NEO

Paralegals who hold a P1 licence from the Law Society of Ontario and are in good standing. We check every applicant on the Law Society’s public directory before going further. Ontario lawyers have their own page: For Lawyers.

Not for the fee share yet. Only licensees can provide legal services, so files are offered only to P1 licensees in good standing. You are welcome to apply once you are licensed. We can’t promise a placement or a start date to anyone. If your program approves a supervised field or co-op placement for credit, see For Students.

No. We look at your Law Society licence and standing, the areas you practise in and whether the files suit your competence. We don’t ask where you gained your experience.

No. A person at NEO reads every application. We do not use AI or any automated tool to screen or choose applicants. We reply to every applicant by email.

Yes. You work with NEO as an independent contractor. You decide which files to accept and when you work, you pay the desk fee when it applies and your own insurance and Law Society costs, and what you earn depends on your own work. You handle your own income tax and CPP. You generally have to register for HST once your taxable revenue passes $30,000 in a single calendar quarter, or over four consecutive calendar quarters, and you can choose to register earlier. The Canada Revenue Agency’s guide for GST/HST registrants explains the tests. NEO does not deduct income tax, CPP or EI from your payments, and provides no benefits or vacation pay.

No. You accept or decline each file. We can’t promise how many files you will be offered: that depends on the work that comes to NEO and on whether it suits your practice areas.

You do, under your own licence, within the client’s instructions, court and tribunal deadlines and the Law Society’s rules. What NEO asks is about the file itself: that it is opened, kept and closed in NEO’s systems, and that the Law Society’s rules on conflicts, client money and records are met.

You do. If you give tasks on one of your files to someone at NEO who is not a licensee, you supervise that work and stay responsible for it, as rule 8.01 of the Paralegal Rules of Conduct requires.

Yes, as NEO matters at the 90% share. Each one goes through NEO’s conflict check first, signs NEO’s retainer and is billed by NEO. If you are moving from another firm, the Paralegal Rules of Conduct on changing firms apply, and we check your current client list for conflicts before you start. We may decline a matter, for example because of a conflict.

On the net fees NEO actually collects in the month: 50% on firm-sourced matters, 90% on clients you bring in, and 100% on excluded work. Each client payment is applied to HST first, then to disbursements, then to fees, and only the part that lands on fees is shared. If you are HST-registered, NEO adds HST to your share and you invoice NEO for it. The fee share page has the full terms and a calculator.

Work that you and NEO agree, in your Independent Contractor Agreement or when the matter is opened, is excluded from the fee share. 100% of the net fees NEO collects on it is yours, and nothing goes to NEO. It is still opened, billed and collected by NEO like any other matter.

Under the standard agreement, it is a new firm-sourced matter that NEO opens and assigns to you in that calendar month. Clients you bring to NEO and excluded work don’t count towards it. Your signed agreement has the exact wording. Each month’s desk fee notice shows that month’s count and whether the fee is owed or waived, so you can check it. If you disagree with the count, tell us before the due date.

No. It is a fixed monthly charge for your workspace, the firm’s systems and support: $250 plus HST ($282.50). It is waived in full for a month with fewer than 5 qualifying firm-sourced matters and for your partial first month, and it is never charged in part.

When it applies, it is due on the 1st of the following month. You can pre-authorize a card through a private billing link: nothing is charged when you add the card, and it is charged only after we have emailed you that month’s desk fee notice, never for more than you authorized. If the fee is still unpaid when your payout goes out, it is deducted from the payout.

Only fees NEO actually collects are shared. Nothing is shared on amounts still owing, refunded or written off, or on money still held in trust. If a client pays later, the share is worked out in the month the payment arrives.

Yes. You need professional liability insurance that meets the Law Society’s By-Law 6 and names you as an insured, with at least $1,000,000 per claim and $2,000,000 in the aggregate, and you show us proof before your first file. The Law Society’s page on paralegal insurance requirements sets out the rule and any exemptions.

Tell us about it when you apply, and we will talk it through before anything is signed. Work outside NEO can’t be done in NEO’s name or through NEO’s systems, and the conflict-of-interest and confidentiality rules apply to all of it.

A client can always choose who represents them, and any transfer of a file follows the Law Society’s rules. For 12 months after the agreement ends you agree not to solicit NEO clients you worked for to move their matters.

Either of us can end the agreement with 30 days’ written notice, or immediately for serious misconduct, a breach of confidentiality, or a suspension or loss of licence. Files stay with NEO and you help transfer them, and you are still paid your share of fees collected later for work you did. Remember to update your business relationships in LSO Connects.