Terms of sale

Scope

These terms apply to every order for services placed on the Labo Legal site. They supplement the site's terms of use and the user agreement, which governs the mandate entrusted to the firm.

Limited scope of the mandate

Each service offered on the site constitutes a mandate of limited scope. The firm undertakes to render only the services described on the page of the service ordered, under the heading "What is included". Any additional service, any unforeseen step or any intervention going beyond that scope is the subject of a separate agreement and may give rise to additional fees, which are communicated before being incurred.

The firm carries out each mandate with diligence and professionalism, in accordance with the ethical obligations applicable to members of the Barreau du Québec.

Order and acceptance

Your order constitutes an offer of mandate. The firm reserves the right to accept or refuse any mandate, in particular in the event of a conflict of interest or where it is not in a position to render the service requested. If the firm refuses your mandate or is not in a position to serve you, the amounts paid are refunded to you in full.

Prices

Prices are stated in Canadian dollars. Professional fees are subject to applicable taxes (GST and QST). Fees charged by government authorities are billed at cost, without taxes, and are indicated on each service page. Any penalty, additional duty or supplementary charge imposed by an authority, in particular by reason of a delay or a default predating our mandate, remains the responsibility of the client.

The prices shown on the site may be changed at any time and without notice. The price that binds you is the one displayed at the moment your order is placed and paid. A price paid previously gives you no acquired right: a later order for the same service is subject to the price then in force, which may be higher.

The duties and fees charged by government authorities are set and revised by those authorities, generally by regulation and often at the start of a calendar year. They may change without notice and without the firm being informed in advance. The government amounts shown on the site are indicative, based on the most recent official publication known to the firm.

Updating those amounts on the site may take some time after they come into force. If a government fee has changed between the moment of your order and the filing of your file, the amount actually charged by the authority is the one that applies. The firm informs you of any difference and submits the adjustment to you before proceeding; you may then confirm the order, reduce its scope or cancel it, in which case any amounts not earned are returned to you.

Services billed by the page

Certain services, in particular contract review, are billed according to the number of pages of the document submitted. For the purposes of that calculation, a page corresponds to letter format in Arial 12 point, single spacing, with margins of 2.54 cm. A document whose layout is denser is brought back to that standard, so that a very tightly set page may count as more than one page. Any page begun counts as a full page. Appendices, schedules, tables and documents incorporated by reference are counted in the same way as the body of the document.

The final count is established by the firm on receipt of the document. If that count differs significantly from the number of pages paid for, the firm informs the client before undertaking the work and submits the adjustment for approval. The client may then confirm the order, reduce its scope or cancel it at no charge, subject to the amounts corresponding to work already performed.

Unless otherwise indicated on the service page, a single set of comments is included per document. Reviewing an amended version of the same document constitutes a new order, calculated on the number of pages of that version. These services comprise the analysis of the document and the firm's comments; they do not comprise the full drafting of a document, negotiation with another party, or representation in a dispute, each of which is the subject of a separate mandate.

Payment

Payment is due at the time of the order and is processed by a secure payment provider. Payments are final, subject to the refund policy below. The accepted methods of payment are indicated at the time of the order.

Deposit in trust

The amounts corresponding to the professional fees for the mandate are first deposited in the firm's trust account, that is, a separate account kept in accordance with the rules of the Barreau du Québec. Those amounts remain in that account until the corresponding legal work has been performed. The firm then disburses the amounts and sends you an invoice or a final receipt.

The government fees collected are used to pay the duties required by the authorities concerned.

Payment dispute and default

In the event that you dispute a payment with your financial institution or with the payment provider, you undertake to inform the firm and to send it the relevant information within five days. If the dispute proves to be unfounded, the firm may claim the amounts owed, including by way of formal notice or judicial proceedings, as well as the reasonable costs incurred for collection.

Any unpaid balance bears interest at the annual rate of 18% from the thirtieth day following the date of invoicing.

Every invoice issued by the firm, including one for the additional time of a consultation, is payable on receipt. The client undertakes to settle it at that time.

In the event of default in payment, the client undertakes to pay, over and above the balance and interest, a collection indemnity fixed at 20% of the amount owed. This indemnity covers, on a lump-sum basis, the costs incurred by the firm in recovering its claim, including administrative, formal notice and collection costs. It is in addition to the judicial and enforcement costs to which the firm would be entitled.

Refund policy

Three situations may give rise to a refund.

First, if we are not in a position to render the service ordered, the amounts paid are refunded in full.

Second, if you withdraw before the work begins, the amounts paid are refunded to you, less processing and billing administration fees of $100.

Third, no refund is granted once the work has begun or the service has been rendered, in particular where documents have been prepared or filings have been made with the authorities.

Termination during the mandate

You may terminate the mandate at any time by written notice. The professional fees corresponding to the work already performed remain due and are disbursed from the trust account; the balance, if any, is remitted to you with a final receipt. Government fees already disbursed as well as the processing and billing administration fees of $100 are non-refundable.

The firm may also terminate the mandate, in particular in the event of a conflict of interest, failure by the client to cooperate, inaccurate information, failure to pay or loss of the relationship of trust, in accordance with its ethical obligations. The amounts not earned are then remitted to you.

Additional costs outside our control

Depending on the nature of the mandate, additional amounts may have to be disbursed during or after the performance of the service, in particular government duties, search fees, publication fees, penalties or fees imposed by a third party. These amounts are outside the firm's control and remain the responsibility of the client.

Turnaround times

Each service page indicates the turnaround time applicable to that service. That time runs from receipt of the complete file, that is, from the moment the firm has the information and documents necessary to carry out the mandate. Document review services carry a longer turnaround time than registry filings, which is specified on their respective pages.

The times indicated on the site are given as an indication only and may vary according to periods of heavy demand. The issuance of any document emanating from an authority, in particular the Québec enterprise registrar, Corporations Canada, Revenu Québec or the Canada Revenue Agency, depends exclusively on that authority's processing times. Those times are outside our control and we assume no responsibility in their regard.

Client's obligations

You undertake to provide accurate, complete and current information, as well as the documents necessary to carry out the mandate. The consequences of erroneous or incomplete information provided by the client, including correction costs and additional government fees, remain the responsibility of the client.

Performance of the services

The legal work is performed by the lawyer responsible for your file. The platform and the AI assistant serve only to make your experience easier; they render no legal service and their answers have no legal effect.

Who performs the mandate

Mandates entrusted through Labo Legal are taken on by the firm. Depending on the nature of the file, its complexity and the timelines, a mandate may be performed by M^e Abdelkrim Kebache, by a lawyer of the firm or by a collaborating lawyer. In every case the professional who acts is a member in good standing of the Barreau du Québec, and the firm remains answerable to the client for the mandate.

This arrangement allows a file to be assigned to the professional best placed to handle it and the announced timelines to be met. The client is told who is handling the file. The rules on confidentiality, professional secrecy and conflicts of interest apply in full, whichever professional is designated.

Consultations and cancellation of appointments

Consultations are scheduled according to the lawyer's availability, generally following contact within 24 business hours of the order.

Any cancellation or rescheduling of an appointment must be communicated at least 72 hours in advance. Failing that, or in the event that the client does not attend the scheduled appointment, the value of the consultation provided for in the mandate remains due and is non-refundable.

A consultation is sold as a block of time. The block you purchase is reserved for you and the lawyer makes himself available for the whole of it. If the consultation ends before the block runs out, the unused time is neither refunded, nor credited against a future consultation, nor carried forward. A one-hour consultation purchased and completed in forty-five minutes remains payable in full.

If the meeting runs beyond the block purchased, the client acknowledges and accepts that the additional time will be billed at the hourly rate of the lawyer responsible for the file, calculated in six-minute increments, that is one tenth of an hour, each begun increment counting in full. Any extension remains subject to the lawyer's availability at the time of the session; the lawyer may end the session and offer a further slot. The lawyer tells the client, before continuing, that the purchased block has run out; continuing the meeting constitutes acceptance of the additional billing. The client may end the consultation at that point at no additional cost.

The invoice for the additional time is sent to the client after the consultation. It is payable on receipt. Any unpaid balance bears interest in accordance with the "Payment dispute and default" article of these terms.

Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by law and subject to the rules applicable to the legal profession, the liability of Labo Legal and MEKA AVOCAT with respect to an order is limited to the amount of the professional fees paid for the service concerned.

Conflicts of interest

Before accepting a mandate, the firm carries out a conflict of interest check. A conflict exists where there is a serious risk that the lawyer's personal interest, or his duties towards another client, a former client or a third party, will impair his duties towards you. If a conflict is found, the mandate is refused or, if it is under way, it is terminated and the amounts not earned are remitted to you.

Dispute resolution

Any dispute relating to the mandate is first the subject of an attempt at amicable settlement. Failing agreement, you are informed that the fees billed may be submitted to the account conciliation and arbitration process of the Barreau du Québec.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws applicable in Québec. Any dispute will be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the judicial district of Montréal.