Terms of service

1. Scope

These terms govern the services MEKA AVOCAT INC. (“the firm”, “we”) offers through its site: booking and paying for a consultation online, and settling online an amount agreed with the firm.

The firm works primarily on mandates. Apart from the consultation, its services are not offered at a posted price: they are agreed case by case, according to the nature and scale of the file. For routine corporate filings at fixed prices, the firm operates the Labo Legal platform, governed by its own terms.

2. Scope of the consultation

The consultation is a standalone, one-off service. It allows your situation to be examined, your questions answered and options identified. It does not open a mandate and obliges neither you nor the firm to go further.

It does not include drafting documents, dealing with third parties or authorities, or representation before a court. Those services form a separate mandate whose terms and fees are agreed in writing.

3. Booking, verification and opening a file

An online booking is a request. The firm confirms it after verifying that no conflict of interest exists and that it is able to act. Failing that, the payment is refunded in full.

A mandate is opened only when the firm confirms it in writing, having set out its object, its scope and its financial terms.

4. Prices, taxes and disbursements

Prices shown on the site are in Canadian dollars. Applicable taxes (GST and QST) are added or shown as included, as each page states.

Government fees, duties, court stamps and disbursements incurred on your behalf are not included in fees. They are billed to you at actual cost and may vary with the rates in force at the relevant authorities, over which the firm has no control.

5. Payment

Online payment is processed by a specialized external provider. The firm never has access to your full card number and stores none of that data.

Paying an agreed amount through the site’s payment page presupposes that the amount was communicated to you beforehand by the firm. If you have any doubt about the amount or its purpose, contact us before paying.

6. Funds received and the trust account

Amounts received as a retainer on fees or for future disbursements are deposited in the firm’s trust account and administered in accordance with the rules governing the legal profession. Fees paid for a service already rendered, such as a consultation held, are earned by the firm.

7. Cancelling or rescheduling an appointment

You may cancel or reschedule a consultation at no charge by notifying us at least twenty-four hours before the scheduled time. After that, or if you do not attend, the consultation is treated as rendered and the fees remain earned.

If the firm must cancel or reschedule, it will offer you a new date promptly or refund you in full, at your choice.

8. Refunds

A payment is refunded in full where the firm cannot act on your request, in particular because of a conflict of interest, and where a cancellation meets the notice period in article 7.

A service already rendered is not refunded. If a mandate ends before its term, the firm refunds the unused balance of the retainer, after applying fees for work performed and disbursements incurred.

9. Termination

You may end a mandate at any time. The firm may also end one for serious cause, in particular loss of the relationship of trust, a conflict of interest arising during the mandate, inaccurate information or non-payment, while observing the rules governing the profession and avoiding serious prejudice to you.

10. Your obligations

You undertake to provide accurate, complete and current information and documents, to respond to the firm’s requests within reasonable time, and to inform it without delay of any new fact liable to affect the file. The firm is not answerable for the consequences of inaccurate or incomplete information.

11. Who performs the mandate

Legal work is performed by a lawyer who is a member of the Barreau du Québec. The firm may assign certain tasks to support staff under its supervision, or call on outside collaborators (notary, tax specialist, accountant) with your agreement where their involvement is billed.

12. Timelines

Announced timelines are indicative. The firm is not responsible for processing times at government authorities, courts or third parties, nor for the decisions they render.

13. Confidentiality and professional secrecy

Information you entrust to the firm within a mandate is protected by lawyer’s professional secrecy and handled in accordance with our privacy policy. Exchanges before a file is opened, notably through a form or an automated tool on the site, do not benefit from that protection.

14. Conflicts of interest

The firm must avoid placing itself in a conflict of interest. Such a situation exists where there is a serious risk that its duties to another client, a former client or a third party would impair its duties to you. A check is carried out before any file is opened.

15. Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by law and subject to the rules governing the legal profession, the firm’s liability for a service is limited to the fees paid for that service. The firm carries the professional liability insurance required by the Barreau du Québec.

16. Resolving disputes

If you disagree with a fee account, the remedies provided by the Barreau du Québec are available to you, including conciliation and arbitration of accounts. We invite you to raise the matter with us first.

17. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law applicable in Quebec. Any dispute falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the judicial district of Montréal.