Payment options & what our fees include
What a fixed fee covers, what is added to it, and the ways you can pay. NEO Legal Services Professional Corporation is a paralegal firm led by Mo. Farooqui, Licensed Paralegal, and regulated by the Law Society of Ontario.
What a fixed fee means
A fixed fee covers the work and steps written in your retainer agreement for your matter, and nothing more. The prices on our Services & Fees page are a starting point; the fee for your matter is the one written in your retainer.
Included in the fee
- The services described in your retainer agreement, for the court or tribunal it names
- Preparing the forms, documents and letters that work needs
- Representing you at the conferences, mediations and hearings your retainer lists
- Dealing with the other side for you, and passing every settlement offer on to you
- Updates as your matter moves, and your secure client portal for documents, invoices and messages
Your retainer lists exactly what is included for your matter. If something you expected is not on the list, ask us before you sign.
Not included, unless your retainer says so
- HST (13%), unless a price says it includes HST. It is added to our fees and to most disbursements at the rate in force when we bill.
- Disbursements: amounts paid to others for your matter, such as court and tribunal filing fees, process servers, searches, couriers, transcripts, expert reports and travel. They are charged at cost, and we ask you before any large one, except in an emergency.
- Work outside the scope written in your retainer, such as an appeal, a review, enforcement, a new proceeding or a different court or tribunal, unless we both agree to it in writing first.
- Costs or penalties that a court or tribunal orders you to pay to the other side.
- Work a licensed paralegal is not permitted to do. If your matter needs a lawyer, we tell you and can refer you to one.
When a fee can change
- A fixed fee in your signed retainer stays as written for the work it covers.
- If your matter needs more than we agreed, for example because it becomes contested or more complex than described, or because you ask for extra work, we tell you first, explain why and what it would cost, and go ahead only if you agree in writing. An email or a message in your portal is enough.
- Where the fee is an estimate rather than a fixed fee, for example hourly work, the estimate is our best forecast, not a fixed price. We tell you before fees are likely to go materially above it.
- If a conflict of interest comes up, we tell you promptly and do what the Law Society's rules require, which can mean we stop acting for you.
- If you end the retainer early, you pay for the work actually done up to then, plus disbursements already incurred.
How you can pay
How you pay depends on what the payment is for. Money for work we have already done is paid against an invoice. Money paid before the work is done is held in our trust account.
Invoices for work we have done
Pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay on our secure Pay page or in your client portal. The payment is processed by Stripe, and we never see or store your card number. You can also pay by Interac e-Transfer or cheque: ask us for the details.
Each invoice shows HST as a separate line. When you pay on the Pay page, your receipt is emailed to you straight away.
Pay an invoiceRetainers and deposits
Money paid before the work is done, such as a retainer deposit or an instalment due when you sign, is deposited to our trust account, kept separate from the firm’s own money, as the Law Society requires. It is applied to your invoices as work is billed, and any unused balance is returned to you when the matter ends.
We tell you how to pay it into our trust account. Please do not use the Pay page for a retainer or deposit.
You can ask for a statement of the money we hold in trust for you at any time.
Instalments written into your retainer
For many fixed-fee services the fee can be split into payments. Whether a plan is possible depends on the matter. When one is agreed, it is written into your retainer before work starts, with the date or stage at which each payment is due:
- Paid in full up front. One payment for the whole fee.
- Half up front, half on completion. Half when you sign the retainer and half when the work is finished.
- Monthly payments. 2 to 24 monthly payments, on the dates set out in your retainer.
- At agreed milestones. 2 to 12 payments, each due at a stage of the matter named in your retainer, such as filing a claim.
- HST (13%) is added to each payment.
- Each instalment is sent to you as an invoice. Nothing is taken from your card automatically.
- A payment that falls due before the work it pays for is done, such as the first half on signing, goes into our trust account.
- No interest on instalments paid on time. Overdue amounts bear interest at the rate set out in your retainer (Standard Terms of Retainer, clause 6.2).
Memberships
Optional monthly or yearly plans that include 4 consultations a month (30 minutes each) with a licensed paralegal and 20% off our fixed-fee services. You do not need a membership to hire us.
- Paid by card through Stripe, and renewed automatically every month or every year until you cancel.
- Monthly plans run for at least 3 months. After that you can cancel at any time.
Pay an invoice over time
For an invoice for work we have already done, you may be able to apply at checkout, on our Pay page or from the invoice we email you, and pay it over time. The provider, not us, decides who is approved and on what terms. It is not available for retainers, deposits or memberships, and you pay the same price however you pay.
- Affirm: for payments of CA$50 to CA$30,000, HST included.
- Klarna: Pay in 4, for payments of up to CA$1,500, HST included.
Affirm. Rates from 0-31.99% APR (subject to provincial regulatory limitations). Payment options through Affirm Canada Holdings Ltd. ("Affirm") are subject to an eligibility check and depend on purchase amount, payment terms, vary by merchant, and may not be available in all provinces/territories. Not all customers will be eligible for 0% APR. Minimum purchase and down payment may be required. NEO Legal Services Professional Corporation is not a lender and makes no credit decisions.
Klarna. See Canadian payment terms at klarna.com/ca/paylaterin4. A higher initial payment may be required for some consumers. NEO Legal Services Professional Corporation is not a lender and makes no credit decisions.
Matters we refer to a lawyer
If your matter needs a lawyer and you accept a referral, you pay the lawyer under the lawyer’s own retainer, and the payment options on this page do not apply. If the lawyer pays us a referral fee, it comes out of the lawyer’s fee and never adds to what you pay.
Lawyer referrals and feesThis page is general information about our fees and how to pay them. It is not legal advice. Your retainer agreement sets the terms for your matter, and where it differs from this page, the retainer applies. Contacting us does not by itself make you our client.
NEO Legal Services Professional Corporation · Mo. Farooqui, Licensed Paralegal · Law Society of Ontario licence P21785 · Unit 236, 1099 Kingston Road, Pickering, ON L1V 1B5 · HST 73954 1035 RT 0001
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