INDEPENDENT LEGAL ADVICE (ILA) APPROACH

Our Calgary law firm's approach to advising and providing Independent Legal Advice (ILA). Please review.

Schedule an appointment with our law firm at 403-400-4092 or Chris@NeufeldLegal.com

When it comes to the provision of independent legal advice (ILA), we follow the directions established by the Law Society of Alberta, and will only provide you with independent legal advice under those specific directive. We do not approach the provision of independent legal advice as a routine process, even if you have already made a decision and intend to complete the paperwork irrespective of our professional advice. We are professionally and ethically required to provide you with our professional advice, such that our consultation may be your only opportunity to consider objectively a transaction that exposes you to significant liability or prejudice while primarily benefiting some other party. As such, we strive to diligently interview, gather information, analyze the issues, and formulate our advice, and ask your assistance in enabling us to undertake this task, including the provision of all relevant information and documentation in advance. Furthermore, we only provide independent legal advice on matters that we are professionally competent in the area of law in question to advise upon, such that we would mutually benefit from apprising us fully (and providing the pertinent documentation) in advance of our meeting to provide independent legal advice.

Further to our undertaking the provision of independent legal advice, we look to observe the following protocols and appreciate your assistance in undertaking same:

• We will require identification in accordance with the Law Society’s Client Identification and Verification rules.

• If you require an interpreter (as our legal advice will be provided in English, so as to ensure its accuracy), we would require a neutral party interpret rather than a member of the family to provide the interpretation.

• We would ask that you provide our law firm in advance with all information and documentation of relevance, as to the circumstances surrounding the transaction, such that we might be able to explain them to you and predict problems. We will also need to understand particulars as to your age and level of experience, your motivation, your relationship of the parties, and your relative bargaining power, including your financial situation, especially as to the financial impact of the transaction.

• We would ask that you be prepared to explain in your own words your understanding of the transaction. This will enable us to better assess your understanding of what you are being asked to sign, and allow us to properly complete our certification of ILA.

• We will only look to advise on paperwork that is fully completed in all respects, and will not sign paperwork that contains blanks or is otherwise incomplete.

• Should you wish to sign against our professional advice, we will require a signed acknowledgement that you are signing against our professional advice. We also retain the right to refuse to provide our certification of ILA, should we feel professionally or ethically obligated to refuse providing certification of ILA as requested.

• Finally, we would ask that payment is provide by yourself personally, as opposed to the party seeking the ILA or a third party.

Important Note for Anyone receiving Independent Legal Advice: For anyone being asked to receive Independent Legal Advice (ILA), it is crucial to understand the significant financial responsibility and risks involved. If there wasn't serious risk, ILA would not be sought, especially where it is required by statute, such that the government considers the financial exposure sufficiently serious, that the government has legislated in those instances the attainment of ILA.

When you are required to a knowledgable lawyer to advise and provide Independent Legal Advice, contact Calgary ILA lawyer Christopher Neufeld by email at Chris@NeufeldLegal.com or by telephone at 403-400-4092 to schedule an appointment (including evening mobile legal services).