Fees
Fees quoted are in Canadian dollars, and do not include HST or disbursements.
Flat Fees
- Donor Agreement
- $2500
- Surrogacy Agreement
- $3750
- Adoption
- $1800
- Declaration of Parentage
- $1500 (drafting and filing necessary court paperwork);
$1500 (appearing in court)
Cost of DNA tests not included - Sponsorship Review Package
- $1500
- Sponsorship Application
- $3000
Retainer equal to the sum of the flat fee must be deposited in trust upon opening of file.
Flat fee for drafting of agreements includes one round of negotiations/revisions. Additional work is billed according to the lawyer’s hourly rate.
Contentious or complex proceedings are not included in flat fees. Additional work is billed according to the lawyer’s hourly rate.
Independent legal advice
Providing Independent Legal Advice (ILA) on a donor agreement or gestational carrier agreement which has already been drafted. This work cannot be done on a flat-fee basis because it is not possible to predict the range and depth of the concerns that may need to be addressed. We charge a retainer fee (deposit) and then bill based upon actual time required to conclude the agreement.
- ILA Retainer
- $750
Hourly rates
For work which needs to be billed on an hourly basis, based upon legal services rendered:
- Lisa Sharp
- $300
- Christopher Deeble
- $275
Disclaimers
NATURE OF THE PRACTICES
We present this information pursuant to the recommendations of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and the Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company.
LIMITS OF LIABILITY
Lisa Sharp and Christopher Deeble are lawyers practising in a virtual association, with subject-area specialization in reproductive technology law.
Each respective lawyer is a sole proprietor of his or her own respective practice.
Great Expectations is not a partnership under the Partnerships Act, and liability is not joint and several. Liability is limited solely to each respective lawyer.
STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY
Following recent jurisprudence on lawyers working in association (Jajj v. 100337 Canada*), both lawyers maintain precautions that prevent the sharing – inadvertent or otherwise – of confidential information pertaining to the clients of any particular lawyer:
- Each lawyer practices in a completely different physical location. There is no partnership, no sharing of files, or law firm as traditionally defined.
- Each lawyer has different contact information, different phone numbers, and different e-mail service providers. Each lawyer maintains his/her own conflict-checking system to guarantee client confidentiality.
- Neither lawyer shares support staff with the other lawyer.
- Each lawyer maintains full client confidentiality as against the other lawyer.
* Jajj v. 100337 Canada, 2014 ONSC 3411 (CanLII).