After an appropriate conflict check, a consultation with ME Law centres on the documents and factual summary provided in advance, followed by a focused discussion with the lawyer about your legal position, strategy, risks, and possible next steps.
The quality of the consultation depends in part on preparation. Where counsel has the important facts and documents before the meeting, more of the consultation can be spent on analysis rather than reconstructing the basic history of the dispute.
If you have not already reviewed the purpose and scope of the meeting, see What is a consultation at ME Law?.
Before the consultation, you may be asked to provide:
- relevant contracts, agreements, wills, leases, mortgages, or other governing documents;
- a Statement of Claim, Statement of Defence, Notice of Application, affidavit, or other court material;
- important correspondence between the parties or their lawyers;
- demand letters;
- expert reports or financial records where relevant;
- a concise chronological summary identifying the parties, key dates, and important events.
During the meeting, the lawyer will normally clarify the material facts and identify the principal legal issues. Depending on the matter, the discussion may include the strength and weaknesses of the positions being advanced, evidentiary issues, settlement or mediation, procedural risks, and the stages that may follow if formal litigation continues.
For an Ontario Superior Court of Justice proceeding, that may include pleadings, documentary production, Examinations for Discovery, motions, mediation, settlement discussions, a pre-trial conference, and potentially trial.
Where the record allows, counsel may also identify immediate deadlines, additional evidence that should be obtained, or issues requiring further legal research.
The consultation is not designed to compress an entire litigation file into one meeting. If the matter already involves a very large documentary record, ME Law may recommend a limited-scope review before giving more developed strategic advice. This is especially important where thousands of pages of pleadings, productions, transcripts, expert reports, or correspondence are involved.
For guidance on preparing that material, see Do I need to prepare anything before an initial consultation?.
ME Law’s objective is to use the consultation for substantive analysis: identifying what can responsibly be assessed from the available record, what requires further work, and what next step best fits the dispute.
You can also review ME Law’s Civil Litigation practice for more information about the litigation process.
Contact ME Law to request a consultation.