What Are the Advantages of Hiring a Vaughan Paralegal?

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 03:46:00 +0000

Many people are not aware that they can get legal help from a Vaughan paralegal. Paralegals in Ontario are licensed and regulated, just like lawyers. You can get outstanding legal services from a paralegal for a fraction of the cost that you would pay a lawyer to do the same job at the same level of court. Besides just the cost, hiring a paralegal in Vaughan, Ontario can provide many advantages to someone in need of legal assistance.

In Ontario, paralegals a licensed paralegal is allowed to represent clients in the Small Claims Court and the various Ontario tribunals. A paralegal is an independent officer of the court and performs the same duties as a lawyer. You can seek the help of a paralegal to handle many cases and legal issues that you would normally see a lawyer for. Here is a look at several different advantages of hiring a Vaughan paralegal:

Paralegals have completed a degree program at an accredited college and have passed a licensing exam. You can be assured that any licensed paralegal that you hire is skilled and knowledgeable enough to offer you proper legal representation. You do not have to worry that they will be overshadowed by a lawyer or that they won't be able to properly handle your legal matter. A paralegal is often just as knowledgeable about legal issues and as skilled at handling Small Claims Court matters as a lawyer.
A paralegal gives you personal attention. Lawyers often very busy and are known for relying on their assistants and clerks to deal directly with their clients. Due to their very large case loads, they may not have the time to give you one-on-one attention. When you hire a Vaughan paralegal you are receiving services directly from them. They will personally be handling every aspect of your file, giving your case the personal attention it deserves.
You can get your legal issue cleared up faster. Lawyers are busy and they are spreading themselves between various different cases at one time. They have to try to schedule your case around their existing case load. This can lead to lengthy delays, making it take quite a long time before your legal issues can be dealt with. With a paralegal, your file will move forward much faster since paralegals are more focused on each individual case and getting them dealt with as quickly as possible. You won't be stuck waiting and your file will be resolved much more quickly.
A Vaughan paralegal can give you the legal expertise that you need in your legal situation. They will focus on you and your case, making it simple to get things cleared up quickly. You will save money because paralegals do not charge the high fees that lawyers do. You can get your legal issues solved competently without all the hassle when you hire a Vaughan paralegal.

Top 5 mistakes people make when representing themselves at the Small Claims Court

Wed, 05 May 2010 23:11:00 +0000

5. Self represented parties sue the wrong person or entity!

This is a common and fatal error that self-represented parties make time and time again. When you sue a person or a business, it is of the utmost importance that you sue the correct legal entity. For example, if you sue your neighbor whom you know as “Joe Smith”, you must be sure that “Joe Smith” is his full legal name. Otherwise, you may later come to find out that his legal name is in fact Joseph Smith or Joe Thomas Smith”. If you did not use the correct legal name in the lawsuit, it will be impossible to try to enforce your judgment against him.

Alternatively, you may want to sue your florist who you know as “Flowers R Us”. However, the correct legal entity behind Flowers R Us is in fact 123456 Ontario Inc. If you sue “Flowers R Us” instead of “123456 Ontario Inc.”, you will likely not be able to enforce a judgment against them.

A licensed paralegal will automatically perform all necessary searches to determine the correct legal name of the person or business that you are suing!

4. Self represented parties always include too much information or not enough information in their claim or defence!

This comes with a lack of understanding for what the court needs to see in your legal documents, and what they do not need to see (or do not want to see). Most self-represented parties often include far too much detail in their narrative. We often see a four or five page description of the events surrounding a case, which is not only far too much information, but can be extremely frustrating for the judge (who we try not to irritate, especially at the outset of the case).

On the other hand, self-represented parties also leave out pertinent details of the narrative. For example, when suing for a breach of contract, a self-represented party often goes in to great detail about how much they have paid to the other party and when they made each payment, however; they often leave out the most important detail of all – that being, the original agreed upon amount of the contract.

A licensed paralegal will have the knowledge and skill set to narrow down the issues and present your case clearly and effectively to the judge. Part of our strategy is to draft effective pleadings to convince the judge of why you should win your case, even before appearing in a courtroom!

3. Self represented parties do not know the law!

Knowing the law and how to apply it to various situations is different from knowing when a cause of action arises. People generally know when a wrong has been committed against them for which they can seek remedy through the courts. However, knowing the law and which legal arguments apply to a situation is an entirely different matter all together. There are often times when you cannot ask the court for certain legal remedies or rely on certain defences if you have not included them in your initial claim or defence. This can result in unfavorable judgments or orders against you.

A licensed paralegal will know how to argue your case in a legal context and which arguments to notify the other parties of in advance of the hearing so as to not deprive you of any of the rights and remedies that are available to you!

2. A self represented does not know the Rules of the Small Claims Court.

The Small Claims Court is governed by, among other things, the Rules of the Small Claims Court. The Rules are quite lengthy and govern all aspects of a proceeding including forms, service, evidence, timelines, fees etc. A self-represented party will often find themselves overwhelmed by the rules of a proceeding, let alone the actual case itself. For example, the rules pertaining to evidence require all parties to exchange documents thirty days before trial, otherwise it may not be admissible in court. Many self-represented parties serve their evidence on the opposing party after the 30 day deadline, or sometimes they show up with the evidence at trial without having served it on the opposing party at all. Situations like this can be devastating to your case. The judge may not allow you to rely on evidence that has not been served properly, which may be fatal to you. The judge may also adjourn the trial to a new date in order to give the opposing party time to review the new evidence. This can cause a great deal of delay in a case and can frustrate the proceeding.

A licensed paralegal will be fluent in the Rules of the Small Claims Court and will be in a much better position to move your matter forward in accordance with those rules. You will not experience the same amount of delay and overwhelming sense of confusion as you would if you were to be self-represented; your paralegal will explain each step to you and will take on the responsibility of complying with the rules, so you wont have to!

1. A self-represented party is SELF-REPRESENTED!!!

The number one mistake made by self-represented parties is that they are SELF-REPRESENTED! Law is a knowledge intensive field born out of education and experience. A self-represented party is simply not equipped to handle all of the rules, the law, and the twists and turns that accompany litigation. Many self-represented parties feel as though they can just appear in court, tell the truth, and win by virtue of being honest. That is NOT the way things work in the courtroom. Did you know that you can represent yourself at all levels of court, not just the Small Claims Court? People automatically think that Small Claims Court is “easy” since you can represent yourself. Not so. There are rules to be complied with, there are laws that protect the other party that you may not be aware of and may not know that rebuttal arguments to, and of course, the other party may be represented by a paralegal or a lawyer who will simply out argue a self-represented party. We have many clients come to us after having attempted to represent themselves only come to realize that they made one of the mistakes listed in this article. It may end up costing you more to correct a problem that is created by your ambition to represent yourself, rather than to hire a paralegal to do it properly from the start.

We would be happy to provide you with a free consultation so that we can assess your case and answer any questions that you may have.

Triumph Litigation

What Are the Advantages of Hiring a Vaughan Paralegal?

Top 5 mistakes people make when representing themselves at the Small Claims Court