The Family Law Services Directory provides a roster of lawyers who are willing to provide limited scope legal services
You can access the Directory here
If you would like to learn more about limited scope legal services, check out the legal information below
When you hire a lawyer to provide a limited legal service, you’re hiring the lawyer to perform a specific task or to only do a part of your case. Limited scope legal services occur when a lawyer performs discrete tasks for a client, and the client handles other matters that, in a full-service retainer, would form part of the services the lawyer would provide. In these circumstances, the lawyer takes responsibility for only those discrete steps or tasks in a case with the client retaining responsibility for the remainder.
There are many different types of service that can be provided in a limited scope capacity in the family law context. Counsel might, for example, be retained only to:
- give an opinion about a legal problem or how it can potentially be resolved;
- do research about a legal problem;
- prepare court documents;
- go to court with the client for a particular step in a case, such as a case conference or a motion;
- attend with a client at mediation;
- give an opinion regarding a draft agreement; or
- do research about a particular stage of the case.
Another type of limited scope family law service involves a lawyer taking responsibility for one or more issues, such as equalization of property, while leaving other issues to the client.
Legal coaching is a type of unbundled legal service where a lawyer-coach offers behind-the-scenes guidance in order to provide a client with the legal advice, information, strategies and tools that they need to allow them to independently manage their own legal matter as effectively as possible.
Legal coaches can help in a number of ways including:
- Legal advice
- Goal setting (both short- and long-term)
- Strategic guidance
- Expectation management
- Editing of client-drafted material
- Education on relevant legal concepts
- Process navigation
- Preparation for court and ADR appearances (including preparation of necessary documentation),
- Assisting with negotiation and settlement
With legal coaching, the client maintains responsibility for all aspects of the dispute, but the coach is available in the background to provide advice and support as needed.
Think of it this way: In a traditional practice, the lawyer drives the “legal bus” while the client rides as a passenger. With legal coaching, the client drives the “legal bus” with the lawyer as the “GPS/navigation system."
Look for lawyers on the Directory who provide legal coaching if you think it's right for your needs.
There has been a significant increase in the number of self-represented family litigants, with one or both parties now appearing in court without a lawyer in over half of family law cases. Many people involved in alternative dispute resolution processes for their family law issues are also not represented by a lawyer.
Research has established that the inability to afford full representation by a lawyer is the single biggest factor in the decision to participate in family court or extra-judicial family law dispute resolution processes without counsel.
Although many self-represented litigants do an effective job on their own, proceeding in court without legal assistance has significant potential negative impacts. Litigants often find family court processes daunting and have difficulty understanding the process, as well as their rights and obligations. This then makes it more challenging to resolve their disputes in an efficient way, potentially leading to increased costs and delay for the parties and the family justice system. The same issues arise for self-represented participants in alternative dispute resolution outside the court process.
Family law limited scope services, also known as “unbundled” legal services, provide an innovative option between full representation and no representation at all. Under a limited scope retainer, also known as an “unbundling” agreement, a lawyer provides services for part, but not all, of a client’s legal matter. For more information on “What are Limited Scope Services?” – click here.
The provision of limited scope services has significant potential for reducing the gap in representation for family law disputes.
Ontario’s Family Law Limited Scope Services Project’s goal is to improve access to family justice for middle income Ontarians by helping lawyers provide more limited legal services to more clients, and letting people, who may not otherwise be able to hire a lawyer, know that other options are available.
The Project facilitates access to and the use of unbundled family law services through this website that hosts a province-wide roster of trained lawyers willing and able to provide such services. Members of the public can search this Lawyer Directory by location, type of service sought and languages in which services are offered to find family lawyers in their area who may be able to assist. You can access the Lawyer Directory here. The project website also provides information and resources about limited scope legal services, tools for clients to help them make the most of the unbundled services that they obtain, and precedents to support lawyers who want to do this work.
Province-wide recruitment and training of family lawyers to join the roster is ongoing. Requirements include experience in family law practice and the completion of training and continuing education. More information about the requirements to join the roster can be found here.
To find a lawyer, go to the roster of participating lawyers who provide unbundled services in your community. Each of the lawyers listed on the Directory has completed the training we offer on how to deliver unbundled family law services. Please note that the Family Law Limited Scope Services Project does not endorse or recommend specific lawyers.
Contact one or more of the listed lawyers to confirm that they provide the services you are seeking and ask about their fee arrangements. When you are ready to proceed, arrange a time to meet with the lawyer either by telephone or in person. Contact information for participating lawyers is included in their profile on the Directory.
You are not restricted to the lawyers on the Directory. These lawyers have completed the Project’s training on Family Law Limited Scope Services and have met the Project’s minimum practice requirements in order to be added to the Directory. Other lawyers who are not listed on the Directory may also provide limited scope services.
If you are interested in working with a lawyer, either from our Directory or otherwise, you should contact the lawyer to decide if they are right for you. When doing so, you may want to ask them about (i) their experience providing family law services, (ii) their general approach to family law disputes, and (iii) the fees that they charge for their services.
When it’s time to meet the lawyer, be sure to bring with you the documents that relate to your legal situation. Explain your problem to the lawyer, and ask the lawyer if they can provide you with the help that you want. Use the meeting to decide how you feel about the lawyer’s approach to the legal problems that you face and whether you feel confident in their abilities.
If you decide that you want to hire the lawyer, ask the lawyer how much she thinks her services will cost and ask how much money the lawyer needs to start working on your problem. Most lawyers will require a deposit (called a retainer) before they begin. The amount of the deposit will likely depend upon how much work is estimated to be required.
The agreement between the lawyer and the client regarding how responsibilities will be divided, and how the lawyer will be paid for their services, should always be confirmed in a written retainer agreement. Information about what the retainer agreement should look like is available here.
All lawyers in Ontario are members of the Law Society of Ontario. The Law Society exists to protect the public and make sure that lawyers perform their services in an ethical, competent way. Before consulting a specific lawyer, you may wish to confirm the lawyer is in good standing with the Law Society by using this link: Seeking Legal Help? Protect Yourself.
The Family Law Limited Scope Services Project is not responsible for the lawyers involved, the work they perform or for the amount they charge for their work. If you are unhappy with the lawyer you have hired, please contact the Law Society.
This checklist assists members of the public to identify legal topics that apply in their personal circumstances and provides them with information about those issues that will be helpful, especially when preparing to meet with a lawyer for the first time.