FEES

INTRODUCTION

Pinsky Law is a law firm providing a range of cost effective legal services to individuals and businesses in Alberta and British Columbia from its offices in Calgary, Grande Prairie, and Fort St. John. A niche status and use of technology enable Pinsky Law to provide high quality, cost effective, sound, conservative legal advice precisely tailored to our individual and business clients needs. Pinsky Law uses skills and experience to judge the balance between legal and business risk and deliver our services promptly and economically, particularly in litigation matters. We recognize that the value of our services is measured by the value we add to our individual and business clients. Pinsky Law approach clients' needs and provide support in a timely, efficient, and effective manner and share with clients the legal and business experience in the process of assessing, developing and deploying legal and business strategies. 

WHAT WE DO NOT DO

We do not provide free consultations. Free consultations are not consultations - they are free auditions. You get what you pay for - if you pay nothing, then you get nothing. And free auditions are not free - they are designed to get you in an office for a distorted advice of a professional who encourages you to retain him or her so that they can make a living. We do not do that and we charge for the initial consultation (click on the link).

We do not charge large or hidden fees. We only charge pre-agreed fees.

We do not exaggerate the success of your litigation matters. We provide honest, laconic, conservative, and straightforward advice. If you should settle your litigation, we will tell you that.

We do not represent, or assist to, self-represented individuals. If you decided to save money and yourself drafted and negotiated an agreement, prepared a trademark application, a will or a trust deed, or represented yourself in a litigation matter, we will not review your work and we will not file it under our law firm's name. Having decided to be your own lawyer, you are on your own.

BILLING PROCESS

Clients have come to us from other firms and lamented about the billing policies they endured. As a client of Pinsky Law you do not pay for basic law research. We do not charge our clients to maintain our knowledge of the law and procedure. Furthermore, due to the wide range of legal matters we handle, it is quite common that we have dealt with the same issue before. Accordingly, we can appropriate much of our existing work to handle the new matter.

Our rates are approximately one-half the rates of our peers at large firms for most client matters including litigation matters. How? We leveraged technology, and we eliminated the high overhead, inexperienced lawyers, and pyramid leverage of the traditional law firm's business model to maximize value for our clients. We have a simple philosophy when approaching fees and billing - we treat our clients' money like we would treat our own. Unlike large, general practice law firms we do not separate the billing department from the legal department. We are accountable for the work and fees we bill. There must always be meaningful and clear value to the work that is billed. If not, such charges will not be incurred.

ADVANCE OF FEES

Before we begin work on behalf of clients, we require an advance payment of fees. The advance payment is placed in the Firm's trust account and serves as a source of payment for all or part of the Firm's account or accounts when rendered. Clients are asked to replenish the trust account from time to time. Any unused portion of fees will be returned to clients upon completion of a matter. Filing of a trademark, filing for an incorporation of a company, or starting a litigation all require payment of government fees. Prior to filing of a trademark, or incorporation of a company, or starting a litigation, all government fees must be deposited in the Firm's trust account.

TIME BILLING

The time billing fees are based principally on the time spent by Pinsky Law on behalf of clients. Minimum billing increment is six (6) minutes. Records of all time are kept and accounts are then prepared and sent to clients periodically. Litigation matters are primarily billed on the time basis.

FLAT FEES

As we noted above, our practice encounters the same issues and procedures repeatedly. While the client might be new to corporate or trademark application process, we are experienced. Pinsky Law and our longstanding clients have a strong preference to utilize a flat-fee billing whenever possible. Accordingly, we attempt, if we see fit, to prepare flat-fee estimates for work prior to the initiation of the project. Flat fees give clients security in knowing the anticipated costs for matter and promotes efficiency in the legal process.