Most Viewed Canadian Lawyers in Canada for the Week ending June 26

1. Lorne Fine, Toronto Lawyers, Toronto Family Lawyers
2. David J. Rotfleish, Toronto Lawyers, Toronto Business Lawyer, Toronto Tax Lawyer
3. Kerry Joan Lee, Owen sound Lawyers, Owen sound Family Lawyer
4. Dante Capannelli, Toronto Lawyers, Toronto Business Lawyers
5. Kavita V. Bhagat, Brampton Lawyers, Brampton Family Lawyers

Most Viewed Canadian Lawyers for the Week ending June 15

1. Brian Galbriath, Barrie Lawyers, Barrie Family Lawyers
2. Lorne Fine, Toronto Lawyers, Toronto Family Lawyers
3. Christopher Hicks, Toronto Lawyers, Toronto Criminal Lawyers
4. Alisa Williams, Hamilton Lawyers, Hamilton Family Lawyers
5. Rose Keith, Vancouver Lawyers, Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyers

Stay tuned for next week’s most viewed lawyers coming your way!

Most Viewed Canadian Lawyers for the Week of June 01, 2009

1.  Lorne Fine, Toronto Lawyer, Toronto Family Lawyer

2.  Anna Perry, Vancouver Lawyer, Vancouver Family Lawyer, Vancouver Real Estate Lawyer

3.  Norman F. Williams, Hamilton Lawyer, Hamilton Criminal Lawyer

4.  Graydon Sheppard, Hamilton Lawyer, Hamilton Personal Injury Lawyer

5.  Paul Pellman, Toronto Lawyer, Toronto Family Lawyer

Stay tuned for the next week’s most viewed lawyer edition!

Most Viewed Lawyers for the week ending March 27, 2009

1. David J. Rotfleish, Toronto Business Lawyer, Toronto Tax Lawyer
2. Christopher Hicks, Toronto Criminal Lawyer, exclusively Criminal
3. J. Gardner Hodder, Toronto Business Lawyer, Toronto Civil Litigation Lawyer
4. Irving A. Solnik, Toronto Family Lawyer, Toronto Civil Litigation Lawyer, Toronto Lawyers
5. Daniel Brown, Toronto Criminal Lawyer

We will update this Lawyer List again next Monday on our “Most Viewed Lawyers in Canada”

Most Viewed Lawyers for the week ending March 20, 2009

1. John Syrtash, Toronto Family Lawyer
2. Brian Galbriath, Barrie Family Lawyer
3. Joel L. Cohen, Ottawa Family Lawyer
4. Chistopher Hicks, Toronto Criminal Lawyer
5. Dante Capannelli, Toronto Business Lawyer

We will update this list again next Monday on our “Most Viewed Lawyers in Canada”

Most Viewed Lawyers for the week ending March 13, 2009

1. Christoper Hicks, Toronto Criminal Lawyer
2. David J. Rotfleisch, Toronto Business Lawyer & Toronto Tax Lawyer
3. Victor Giorgas, Toronto Criminal Lawyer
4. Graydon Sheppard, Hamilton Personal Injury Lawyer
5. Rene Larson, Thunder Bay Lawyer

We will update our “Most Viewed Lawyers in Canada” edition next Monday.

Earlier is better than later. In almost all legal actions, finding and retaining a lawyer early in the process will aid the resolution of the case. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for your lawyer to gather relevant evidence or prevent a misstep. Retaining counsel early may actually save money because witnesses and evidence are easier to track down and preserve.

How do I find an attorney? Although this is the first time you have retained counsel, it is likely that people you know have used the services of a lawyer before. If they had a good experience, ask them who they used. Even if that attorney doesn’t handle your type of case, they will be able to recommend lawyers who do. Failing that, research local law firms and lawyers on the Internet. You will find information about what sort of cases they handle and how experienced they are. Lawyerahead.ca is a great place to start your search for a lawyer. 

When you first meet your attorney, they will ask you some background questions about your case. They are acting much like a physician diagnosing a patient. They will listen to your story and hear it with ‘lawyer’s ears’ – picking out the essential elements both for and against you. Further investigation may be required, since it is unlikely you will know all the key elements and facts.

However, with this background information, your attorney should have a general idea of whether or not your particular case has merit and how to proceed. He or she will question you about what you envision a satisfactory result to be and comment on how realistic your hopes are.

If it appears that you have a valid case, the next part of the initial interview should be about costs. Attorneys understand that fees and expenses are a real consideration in any legal proceeding. They should be quite up-front about what they charge and what other costs are involved. If your case is taken on a contingency fee basis, they should tell you whether or not you are responsible for expenses and what happens if you lose and no money is collected.

You should not be afraid to lay out all your concerns, even if they seem silly. You are relying on this person to represent your interests - communication and trust are an important part of deciding who to hire.

Your initial consultation should end with a general plan of action. What you should and should not do in the near term. You should ask who is the contact person for your case (it may be an associate or a paralegal – someone empowered to answer general questions you may have and forward information to your attorney). You should be ready to call your contact person with new developments and to get updates on your case.

It is likely that your lawyer will give you a ‘homework’ assignment, perhaps gathering information he will need for your case. You should have a clear idea of ‘what happens next’ when you leave. You should also have a sense that you are in capable hands. Remember, questions aid all concerned. When you are not sure about something, ask. And if you still aren’t sure, ask again.

So you have decided to go into business for yourself and now you are wondering what to do. The variety of options can be mindboggling at first, but by consulting with your accountant and lawyer and by doing a bit of homework, one can discern what the appropriate course their business venture should take. One of the first steps after you have decided what sort of business interest (e-store, restaurant, manufacturing, etc) to pursue is to figure out what sort of business structure is best for you.

The three basic business structures, sole-proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations, handle taxes in diverse manners and one should decide whether they expect profits or losses during the startup phase to arrive at the most suitable option.

Although corporations offer the entrepreneur the least amount of liability, they are less than favorable when you expect initial losses. Remember, corporations are legal entities and this means any losses they take stay with them. Entrepreneurs are not allowed to use these corporate losses to hedge against their supplementary incomes. Sole-proprietorships and partnerships tend to benefit the entrepreneur in this circumstance. Unlike corporate losses, which cannot be used, initial losses from starting a sole-proprietorship or partnership can be used to offset other sources of income. When profits are expected, the entrepreneur should consult with his accountant and have them compare the respective tax burdens for each business structure scenario.

Planning for what will happen with the business once the entrepreneur is deceased is another important part of the process. The method of transfer should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis to avoid swamping loved ones with taxes. Gifting the business to your spouse or to a trust for the spouse is one of the simplest ways to defer capital gains tax. Trusts come in handy when you want to ensure the business will be transferred to following generations. Estate freezes, which involve “freezing” the value of the business and allowing future growth in value to be transferred to the next generation without capital gains tax, is valuable because it postpones heavy taxes until the death of the next generation.

Tax and estate planning is a very in depth issue. Hopefully, this post gives you a glimpse into the intricate world of tax and estate law, but please recognize that it is only a glimpse. Jumping in without the guidance of an experienced lawyer and an experienced accountant is not a good idea. Many facets of your business may need special consideration and consulting with your accountant could result in large structural changes to better suit you from tax or other standpoints.

You can use lawyerahead.ca to find tax lawyers, estate lawyers, business lawyers and other lawyers quickly by posting your case.

Open the Yellow Pages and you’ll find page after page after page of legal advertisements. They are generally categorized by ’specialty’, but all of them seem to be specialists in multiple areas of the law. The sheer number of ads is astonishing.

“Well, here’s a nice advertisement. Big letters, toll-free phone number, a nice picture of a classy office and a distinguished gentleman.” Guess what? You’ve just figured out which law firm is good at advertising. You have, in effect, selected the best ad writer, not the best lawyer for your circumstances. And pages of ads, all offering the same ‘free consultation’ doesn’t help either.

You shouldn’t choose a lawyer like you would choose a plumber. Rather, finding a lawyer to take on your case is more like finding a doctor to treat your illness. You are going to develop a long-term relationship with your attorney – a relationship built on trust and communication. The Yellow Pages will not help you here. In fact, they can hurt you.

The advertisements will not tell you how much a lawyer charges. They will not tell you who pays the law firm if you lose your case. Did you know that you might be responsible for paying the attorney fees if your case doesn’t result in a collection? What about expenses related to investigating and pursuing your case? Who pays for those?

All of these questions and more can only be answered in person. You will need more than a phone call, you will need to interview a few lawyers to find one that you trust to handle your matter. Someone you can be confident in and a firm you can rely on.

Put the Yellow Pages away. Take some time to investigate both your type of case and local attorneys on lothe Internet. Lawyer Ahead is a great place to start as it carries the most comprehensive information on a lawyer and only publishes lawyers that meet its minimum publishing standards.  Set up an appointment (usually free) and ask some key questions:

1. Does my case have merit?
2. Who pays if I lose? How much of any judgment will go toward attorney fees and expenses if I win my suit?
3. What is the expected outcome and how will your firm get me there?
4. What is your track record with my type of case?
5. Who else could you recommend in this area of law?

Remember, what you want is someone who can guide you through the legal minefield, someone with expertise and someone you trust who you can communicate well with. Leave the Yellow Pages for when you need lawn service or snow removal.

To get more information on Vancouver Lawyers, Toronto Lawyers, Ottawa Lawyers, Brampton Lawyers and Mississauga Lawyers, please visit www.lawyerahead.ca

Despite the crisis in the global automotive industry there is still a huge number of cars on the streets of every city. Huge number of cars lead to huge number of crashes, even if everyone is extra careful. And the number of deaths, injuries and damages in this accidents is huge, so be sure to keep in mind some of the following things in case you will have your car crashed.

You need to report to the police about the accident as soon as possible, just be sure to do all the needed things to collect evidence about the accident. After the cops arrive at the place of accident, the accident area will definitely become a more crowded place, so be sure to keep some evidence of the initial crash site. As we already wrote if someone is seriously injured it is a different situation and you need to report to the cops immediately.

So after the initial things we will step to more law related stuff. First thing that you need to know – do not take any fault. Even if you are guilty, the whole situation in the end will be solved by insurance companies and car accident lawyers and they will tell you what you need to do.

The next most important step is gathering information. Get other drivers info, license plate numbers, driver’s license numbers, full names, telephone numbers and addresses. It will be very useful to film the crash site, the best helper will be the camera in your phone, or better a digital camera. You need to capture the position of the vehicles and damages. It will help you to charge money if your car was also damaged by the tow truck, that dragged it away. Also do not try to repair the other drivers’ car, except when the repair is small and is needed to start the car. Get some info from neutral witnesses who saw the accident. Try to make a clear and detailed picture of the accident and the contact your insurance company and describe the situation.  Find top lawyers for your accident by posting your case on Lawyer Ahead - its as easy as step 1, 2, 3 and it is the best, free way to find a lawyer.

The last thing is the most important one. After you’re done with everything try to relax, you are still alive and damaged property is not such a huge problem.