You are "bang on the money". By far, the majority of lawyers require a retainer BEFORE they offer or perform any legal services. Unless a lawyer is operating a "flat fee" for services rendered, when a service has been rendered or performed, funds are withdrawn from their retainer ( trust ) account and placed in their income account. When additional services are required to be performed and the balance in their trust account is low, the lawyer will ask for another retainer before these services are rendered.

If a legal consultation, including a legal opinion is requested, the lawyer will request payment BEFORE the client leaves the office. If the client is one who has established a business relationship with the lawyer, the lawyer will normally send the client a bill which is generally paid.

In those rare instances when a lawyer sends a client a bill which goes unpaid, sometimes the lawyer will assign the bill to a collection agency to collect. If the collection agency is unsuccessful in collecting this outstanding account, the lawyer will simply "write off" the account as a "bad debt" as a cost of operating a law practice.

If legal aid services are performed, Legal Aid Ontario will contact the lawyer to determine from the lawyer the approximate cost of the services to be performed. For example, if the lawyer estimates that $5,000 of legal services will be performed and Legal Aid Ontario agrees with this estimate, then Legal Aid Ontario will issue to the lawyer a certificate for $5,000 which is the lawyer's authority to bill Legal Aid Ontario up to but not exceeding $5,000. Once the services are performed, the client must now reimburse Legal Aid Ontario for these fees.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

Curious here... Why would a lawyer not sue their own clients? Is it because they 'normally' operate on a retainer from the client, thus, outstanding balances not (typically) being an issue?

It is very common knowledge that within the legal profession, lawyers do not sue their own clients.

Having said that, if this account is turned over to a collection agency to collect and you are subsequently contacted by a collector, tell them that you dispute the debt and request that they sue you and take you to court. Follow this up with a registered letter confirming your telephone conversation. You will not hear from them again.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

In October 2008 I was trying to remortgage my house because I was going through a separation. I contacted a lawyer after talking to the mortgage people and in return the lawyer sent me papers I had to sign prior to them doing any work on my file.

A week later the bank told me I could not get approved for the mortgage because my ex would not sign a waiver saying that she has no interest in the property. I then contacted the lawyer telling her the news and she told me that they already started working on my file even thought I had not sign the papers giving them permission to do so.

Since November 2008 they have been sending me letters threatening to send my bill to the collection agencies.

I phoned the lawyer to argue that I did not sign the papers to authorize the work; I was told that she waved some fees and that I was getting a deal and then I was billed $20 for the phone call.

Since 2008 my bill has double, I was billed twice for the tax and billed 24% interest.

Will the collection agencies take this collection even though i did not sign any documentation to authorize the work?

How to i get this lawyer to stop sending me letters without having to hire another lawyer at $300 an hour?