Fees and legal aid

Two questions decide what a lawyer costs you: whether legal aid can pay, and if not, what the work itself requires. I deal with them in that order, always. Nothing on this page is a quote — a real number requires looking at a real file — but the way it works should hold no surprises.

The first consultation is free, whether you qualify for legal aid or not.

Legal aid comes first

If your income and family situation fall under Quebec's legal aid thresholds, the legal aid program can pay for a lawyer — free of charge or with a fixed contribution, depending on your income. Immigration and refugee matters are among the services the program can cover. Refugee claimants and people in removal or detention procedures often qualify, and the thresholds are higher than many people assume. When you contact me, say early that you may qualify: checking costs nothing, the assessment is confidential, and the full process is explained in the legal aid guide. Legal aid is provincial, so if you are outside Quebec, your province's plan applies — raise it in the first conversation.

If legal aid does not apply

You receive my fees in writing, before any work begins. Depending on the procedure, fees are either a flat amount for a defined mandate — an appeal memorandum, a detention review, an application — or an hourly rate where the scope cannot be known in advance. The written agreement states what is included, what is not (for example, tribunal or court filing fees, interpreters for documents, expert reports), and what happens if the mandate grows. If something changes along the way, the agreement changes in writing too — you are never billed into the unknown.

What I can and cannot promise

I can promise how I work: deadlines calculated and named, work billed as agreed, and honest advice — including when the honest advice is that a recourse is weak and your money is better kept. What no lawyer can promise is a result — the rules of my profession prohibit it. If someone quotes you a price with a promised outcome attached, the promise is the part to question.

Practical details

A first consultation is free. It is an assessment of your situation, to determine whether Me Bourbeau can represent you, and it does not commit you to a mandate. Payment arrangements can be discussed for larger mandates. Receipts are issued for every payment.

If cost is the question holding you back, ask it first — starting with legal aid. Let's talk about it.