We prefer payment by electronic funds transfer or by cheque, bank draft, money order or wire transfer, but also accept payment by credit card where an account has been issued. We cannot accept cash or cryptocurrencies, nor can we accept retainer and deposit payments by credit card.

Arbitration & mediation

All parties to a mediation or arbitration process are responsible for paying our fees and expenses. Lawyers call this “joint and several liability.” Where the parties are represented by lawyers, the arbitration and mediation agreements used by John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers make the parties’ lawyers responsible for paying our fees and expenses at first instance, who then usually pass the cost on to their clients as a disbursement. Where one or both parties are not represented by lawyers, the parties are directly responsible for our fees and expenses, and we will require that a retainer be paid in advance.

In mediation processes, all fees and expenses are payable when the mediation has ended, whether or not an agreement has been reached some, none or all of the issues brought to mediation.

In arbitration processes, all fees and expenses are usually payable when the final award has been prepared, and must be paid in full before the final award will be released. We may provide interim accounts at any time before or after the arbitration hearing, usually when significant amounts of John-Paul’s time have been used.

Parenting coordination

The parents are jointly and severally liable for payment of the fees and expenses incurred by John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers. We will ask that a retainer as well as a deposit be paid before we begin to provide services. The deposit works just like a retainer but is held in reserve against the possibility that a parent may try to avoid resolving an issue by allowing our retainer to be exhausted, and then refusing to replenish it.

Periodic accounts will be rendered, usually every one, two or three months. Our accounts are payable when they are sent and will be paid from the parents’ retainers.

retainers

To “retain” someone means to hire their services, usually the services of a lawyer or another professional, who is then said to be “on retainer.” “Retainer” also refers to the tasks a lawyer is hired to perform, as well as a payment made to a lawyer before they start to work. In this last sense, a “retainer” refers to money paid as a kind of security for the lawyer’s future fees.

When John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers requires that a retainer or a deposit be paid, the money is kept in our trust account and will be drawn from to pay our accounts. Any money remaining in our trust account when our services have concluded will be returned.

The amount of the retainer or deposit we request will be based on John-Paul’s hourly rate and his expectations about how much time a file will take to be resolved.

Independent legal advice

You are responsible for paying our fees, whether you plan on paying our fees directly or expect someone else to pay them for you. Accounts will usually be rendered after the legal advice has been provided. Our accounts will be delivered by email and are due when they are sent.

expert services

You are responsible for payment of the fees and expenses incurred by John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers. Accounts will be rendered after our services have been provided. A retainer may or may not be required, depending on the nature of our services. Accounts will be delivered by email and are due when they are sent.

Children’s legal services

Depending on the nature of the service, responsibility for the fees and expenses incurred by John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers may shared by both parties or be borne by one party alone.

Accounts will be rendered after our services have been provided or, in the case of views of the child reports and children’s affidavits, when the report or affidavit has been prepared. A retainer will generally be required. Our accounts will be delivered by email and are due when they are sent.

overdue accounts

Interest is charged at a modest compounding rate of one percent per month, or 12.68 percent per year, on all accounts not paid within 30 days of the date on which they are due.