Your loved one's future is our why

Legate works on a contingency fee basis. That means that we are not paid unless your case is successful. Success means being paid compensation for your losses. In rare cases, we will ask for a retainer to assist with investigation (e.g., in a medical negligence case that is very unclear at the start).

Lawsuits involving injury take time. First, we need the doctors to give us a prognosis or prediction about your future course. Then, we can assess income losses, future care needs, and other damages. That may take weeks, months, or even years to do properly and carefully. We won’t waste your time and will get you to court or settlement as soon as it is in your best interest to do so.

When we meet, we will ask questions about your work, hobbies, home life, and future goals. The extent that these things are impacted will be the measure of your loss. You can claim for pain and suffering (which is capped in Canada), lost income, loss of future ability to earn income, care needs beyond OHIP, care from family and friends, and assistance at home should you need it. It is important to remember that your circumstances are unique. There is no cookie cutter approach.

We hope that you can. Barbara Legate’s philosophy has always been this: if an injury happened to her, she would want her life back, too. Lawyers should not stand in your way but rather support that effort in any way they can. That is a good strategy because insurance companies and defence lawyers will be looking for anything they can to criticize your motivation. Hard work at rehabilitation is a blockade to that strategy.

If we agree to proceed beyond an initial investigation in your case, we usually enter into a contingency fee agreement that governs how we are paid. Most individuals cannot afford to pay upfront for a lawsuit. Contingency fee agreements facilitate access to justice by allowing you to compensate us for our time by paying a percentage of the amount you recover at the end of the case. The percentage fee is decided upon based on the risks in your particular case, the amount of resources we will spend to properly prepare your case, and other factors that we will discuss together.nnThe Law Society of Ontario requires firms to publish the maximum contingency fee they charge to ensure the public can make informed decisions. Unless a court orders otherwise, our fee will not be more than 35% of your damages and costs. Your fee may be lower. Fees will always be discussed and agreed upon in advance to ensure there are no surprises.