Lawyer refusing to give disclosure | GTAMotorcycle.com

Lawyer refusing to give disclosure

DOHC1

DOHC1

Well-known member
I have been charged with a criminal charge, and am firing the lawyer I have been using so far. My trial is set for January, and i have NOT retained him, as he is askign for too much money. Instead, I am getting legal aid as I am a student and my university offers it for free. Lawyer is asking me for an additional $300 to give me the disclosure papers, saying that it is for his services. He has been paid over $2000, and has not done anything other than set dates etc.

1) Can he legally hold my disclosure papers and pretty much ask for a ransom to get them back? Even if he IS owed money from me, is holding back papers that are essential to my case legal? (obstruction of justice?) Next month I am due in for court to declare who my lawyer will be for the trial..legal aid lawyers need my papers ASAP to look at the case.
2) Can I get a second copy of disclosure from the court for a fee?
3) If my court date comes and I havent gotten discloure off my lawyer at that point, can I simply go up to the judge when I am called up, and explain my situation?
 
shouldn't your new lawyer be able to answer this question for you? if not maybe you should have stuck with the original one
 
I think the disclosure is yours. Unless you have a balance owing, I can't see why it is not in your hands. I have always kept my own documents, let the lawyers make copies for themselves.
 
I am meeting with my new lawyer tomm, so hopefully he can guide me. In hindsight, I should have hung onto the disclosure papers..live and learn I guess :(
 
$2000 is kinda steep if he hasn't done much work. I'd ask him for a bill with the breakdown of the charges.... i.e. the payment charges not the legal ones.
 
Metastable said:
$2000 is kinda steep if he hasn't done much work. I'd ask him for a bill with the breakdown of the charges.... i.e. the payment charges not the legal ones.
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Depends on exactly what work was done, and whether it was done by the lawyer or by a law student working for him. Criminal trial lawyers charge $300 to $600 per hour or more for their services, plus disbursement, and that's just for the work done in their office. If one actually had to travel to court on your behalf, that trip could be $2,000 or more all by itself. Usually much of the low level grunt work is assigned to law students, but it still doesn't take much for the fees to add up. An invoice will identify where the work was done.
 
Legal Aid caps fees at a number that is significantly less than 300 an hour. I don't feel like saying the exact number but its not enough to run an office on.

Lawyers do have a lien on your items for unpaid fees generally. similar to mechanics.

But feel free to ask for billings, 2 grand sounds like nothing to me but thats me.
 
OpenGambit said:
Legal Aid caps fees at a number that is significantly less than 300 an hour. I don't feel like saying the exact number but its not enough to run an office on.

Lawyers do have a lien on your items for unpaid fees generally. similar to mechanics.

But feel free to ask for billings, 2 grand sounds like nothing to me but thats me.
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If there are no fees owing, though, shouldn't he have a right to his file? From what he's saying, it sounds like the lawyer wants to charge a fee just to hand over what's already his.
 
I've bought a business and it didn't cost me much more than that in legal fees to get it all set up and registered and it was with a Bay Street firm. Plus if the trial hasn't started, and the OP got the disclosure, what else could the lawyer have done? Ask for a bill dude.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
If there are no fees owing, though, shouldn't he have a right to his file? From what he's saying, it sounds like the lawyer wants to charge a fee just to hand over what's already his.
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Yes if there are no fees owing, you are correct. I wasn't entirely clear from the post so I just wanted to give some info.
 
Metastable said:
I've bought a business and it didn't cost me much more than that in legal fees to get it all set up and registered and it was with a Bay Street firm. Plus if the trial hasn't started, and the OP got the disclosure, what else could the lawyer have done? Ask for a bill dude.
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Thats kind of apples and oranges... You really can't compare litigation work with solicitor work like that.
 
OpenGambit said:
Legal Aid caps fees at a number that is significantly less than 300 an hour. I don't feel like saying the exact number but its not enough to run an office on.

Lawyers do have a lien on your items for unpaid fees generally. similar to mechanics.

But feel free to ask for billings, 2 grand sounds like nothing to me but thats me.
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The OP mentioned that he had applied for legal aid, and that's why he was "firing" the original lawyer. That suggests that the original lawyer had been doing some work prior to firing, and was charging the going rate for that work and not the legal aid rate.
 
turbodish said:
The OP mentioned that he had applied for legal aid, and that's why he was "firing" the original lawyer. That suggests that the original lawyer had been doing some work prior to firing, and was charging the going rate for that work and not the legal aid rate.
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thats not what I read. he said, "I am getting legal aid."

What you said may be true but it isn't definitive from OP's words.
 
From your story it seems like there hasnt been too much done yet so there may not be a great deal of disclosure given. Either way you can always request to get another copy of everything and your "new lawyer/legal aid" can get a copy of it for you.

I wouldnt put too much focus on it or worry. Your current lawyer cannot keep it but either way you can get another copy. Worst case scenerio you tell the judge at your next Court apprearance and he will do something about it.
 
Hype R said:
From your story it seems like there hasnt been too much done yet so there may not be a great deal of disclosure given. Either way you can always request to get another copy of everything and your "new lawyer/legal aid" can get a copy of it for you.

I wouldnt put too much focus on it or worry. Your current lawyer cannot keep it but either way you can get another copy. Worst case scenerio you tell the judge at your next Court apprearance and he will do something about it.
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Disclosure doesn't have anythign to do with how much has been done.

Disclosure doesn't come from courts. Its from the Crown.
 
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