April 2017
Why pay for legal advice when there are so many free sources of information. Most prefer to avoid paying $200 per hour when answers can be obtained elsewhere at lower cost.
Condo owners are no different. When it comes to dealing with condo boards or specific issues the cost of legal advice may appear high.
Further to the point, condo boards are no different than condo owners. Most people have a brother, family attorney or otherwise qualified “attorney friend”. When all else fails, a little Internet research may suffice.
After spending hours dealing with a condo matter, and spending thousands of dollars on a lawyer without condo corporation expertise, things may look rather different. Free or low cost legal advice may cost more than you realize.
Working with a lawyer who doesn’t know Ontario condo corporation law can cause a condo board or individual to take the wrong approach to a situation. The cost of rectifying an error or an incorrect approach can greatly exceed the price of working with an experienced lawyer from the beginning.
Legal matters require more than reading the published law and Condo Act. These documents, and lawyers inexperienced in condo law, have no understanding of strategies, how to apply the law or what may be misunderstood.
Quality legal advice requires understanding things from the perspective of the other side. There needs to be an expectation of how the other side will react to a strategy which will then impact on your next step.
Resolving condo disputes requires an understanding of the law and practical strategies. It is important to choose a strategy likely to result in success while keeping legal costs to a minimum. That is what good condo lawyers do.
