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Tools and Information For Lawyers Seeking Contract Work


Who is Eligible to Work as a Contract Lawyer?

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Lawyer members of the Law Society of Upper Canada who are currently entitled to practise law in Ontario are eligible to work as a Contract Lawyer in Ontario.

Who Should Consider Working as a Contract Lawyer?

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If you are seeking more flexibility, a greater variety or work or more mobility in your lifestyle, you may want to consider working as a Contract Lawyer.

Contract work, either full or part-time, may also be a good option for you if you are winding down your career and wish to continue practising but not in a full-time capacity, if you are caring for a small child or ill or elderly family member, or if you have a small practice of your own and are seeking additional work.

Issues to Consider for Contract Lawyers

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Inform the Law Society of Any Change in Your Status

If you are taking on contract work from another lawyer, you should confirm with the Law Society if this work will result in any change to your membership status. Lawyers and paralegals must immediately inform the Law Society's Client Service Centre when their working or practising status changes.

Satisfy yourself that the contracting firm/lawyer's client trust account is in order

Unless the contracting firm/lawyer will be available throughout the Contract Lawyer term to handle trust funds, arrangements must be made to provide the Contract Lawyer with authority to access the contracting lawyer's trust account(s). This can be done via a Power of Attorney or, with bank permission, through the contracting lawyer signing an authorization permitting the Contract Lawyer to manage his/her trust account for the duration of the Contract Lawyer term.

As Contract Lawyer, you will want to satisfy yourself that the contracting lawyer's trust account(s) are up to date and in order. To this end, you might want to review the current accounting history of all files you will be working on to confirm that the contracting lawyer's records are current and accurate. You should consider reviewing the following documents:

It is your responsibility to satisfy yourself that you are comfortable taking over the contracting firm/lawyer's accounts. Be sure to address these issues in the Contract Lawyer contract. You may incur legal liability in relation to managing trust funds. The Contract Lawyer and contracting firm/lawyer should maintain a current and complete set of records prior to the transfer and return of practice responsibilities.

Consider whether you will be required to sign cheques on the contracting firm/lawyer's general account

If so, make sure that the contracting firm/lawyer has made the proper arrangements in advance for you to have signing authority. Find out the name of the bookkeeper and establish a rapport.

For both general and trust accounts, you may wish to consider a dual-signature signing authority with you as one signatory, and a senior staff member from the office as the other. This protects both the Contract Lawyer and contracting firm/lawyer's interests in the financial management of the firm, while the contracting firm/lawyer is away. Also consider a cap on how much you can sign for on the general account and include these arrangements in the Contract Lawyer contract. As most expenses can be dealt with via pre-authorized payment, debit or credit card, you should not need to be involved with payment of routine expenses (e.g. rent, hydro, telephone).