Not everyone seeks to retain a lawyer for their legal matter. Some of the reasons for this include: they feel they can handle their matter on their own, they feel they cannot afford a lawyer, they feel their legal matter is SiMPle or they just are not sure either way and want to give it a try.

As businesses open and life begins to return to "normal", here at SMP Law we thought we would share some of our favourite previous posts that continue to be important topics.

With the current pandemic of COVID-19, many “normal” practices that we are accustomed to have now changed. Many businesses are closed or offering their services remotely. Some are slowly starting to reopen with new protocols to protect your safety. To adapt, the Government of Ontario has made an emergency order that wills can be executed “virtually” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada and the U.S. have been rocked by multiple racially charged deaths, most recently, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Regis Korchinski-Paquet. The common theme is that that they all involve the death of an unarmed, innocent black person at the hands of a white person exerting his or her perceived authority over the vulnerable black victim.

Anyone who has been to court will be familiar with the term “cost”. At every court appearance you are entitled to seek the amount it cost you to prepare and be at court. So if you had a lawyer representing you then you would be entitled to request your legal fees from the other party in what is called a “cost order”.