Allen Paralegal Services
Legal Services for Ottawa and Eastern Ontario
Welcome to our new Web site
Allen Paralegal Services is an Ottawa, Ontario paralegal firm focused on providing quality legal services to help you deal with any number of legal issues. At this time, our firm deals primarily with Small Claims Court proceedings, Landlord and Tenant issues, and Legal Research.
Our scope of practice is being expanded to include Highway Traffic Act problems, Provincial Offences Act proceedings,and help with dealing with most Ontario Tribunals.
As long as your matter is within the scope of practice permitted to a paralegal, we can:
- provide legal advice
- represent you in a proceeding related to your matter
- draft and provide the necessary paperwork
- provide legal research
- negotiate on your behalf
Along with helping individuals, Allen Paralegal Services can aid landlords, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, associations, etc. in the Ottawa area In short, we can help anyone requiring legal services.
Allen Paralegal Services may also be retained by Law Firms and other Paralegal Firms as a subcontractor.
Please check back frequently as our Web site is a work-in-progress and is under continual construction. As time goes by, we will be adding other features, links, and helpful information. Thank you for visiting
Small Claims Court:
What Allen Paralegal Services
can do for you
Background: Unfortunately, sometimes in life things just go wrong. Maybe you lent some money to someone and they won't pay you back. Maybe you were injured somehow and the person at fault for the injury won't pay your extra medical expenses. Maybe there's a problem with a contract, and the other party won't discuss it with you. These are just three examples, there are many hundreds more.
Whatever the reason, whether you're the Plaintiff or the Defendant, Allen Paralegal Services is here to help you. As an Ottawa paralegal firm, we can help you find your way through the Small Claims Court system.
In Ontario, the Small Claims Court is a civil trial court . It can order someone to give you money, or return something to you. Aside from that, it cannot order someone to do anything else; it can't send people to jail for an extended time, it can't grant a divorce, it can't order an employer to re-hire an employee. In short, it deals with money and/or it can order that property be returned. It has no criminal jurisdiction.
Limits: At the present time, the maximum limit that you can sue for, or the maximum value of personal property you are suing to recover, is $25,000. This amount, however, does not include any costs or interest which you may be awarded by the court. If the value of your claim is over the $25,000 Small Claims Court limit, you must make a choice: you can either waive, or give up, any amount over $25,000 and proceed in the Small Claims Court, or you can proceed with the full amount of your claim in the Superior Court of Justice.
Process: Whether you're the Plaintiff or the Defendant,Allen Paralegal Services can represent you through the entire Small Claims Court process.
The process starts when you realize a problem exists. Generally, if you are suing someone, you normally have two years within which to take legal action.
On my "Contact Us" page is a convenient fillable form in which you can describe your situation and e-mail me direct. Or, if you prefer, you could phone me at 613-296-3285.
If your situation is one I can help you with, I would arrange an initial no-cost face-to-face meeting with you to further discuss the problem. This meeting would be at a place and time convenient to you, and is completely confidential and free of charge. It's quite common to have these meetings on a weekday evening, or at some point on a weekend. At this meeting, whether you're suing or defending, I detail what I could do for you, and I explain my fees and related costs.
If you decide to hire Allen Paralegal Services to represent you, the next step is for you and I to sign a retainer agreement. That's our contract, and it outlines our respective responsibilities. The retainer agreement normally requires you to pay an agreed-upon amount upon signing before the retainer agreement becomes effective. After we both sign the retainer agreement, you have hired yourself a paralegal firm, and I am working for you.
I will prepare, file, and serve all the necessary documents for your case, I will negotiate with the opposing party on your behalf, and I will be your representative in court. This work includes researching and using the statute and case law relevant to your proceeding. Be assured, though, that I will ask for your approval before taking any of the many required actions necessary in your case. This also helps keep you well-informed as to how your case is proceeding.
THE ABOVE SECTION IS
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Please come back soon!
Commissioning of Affidavits
The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General has appointed Garth Allen of Allen Paralegal Services, an Ottawa paralegal firm, as a Commissioner for Taking Affidavits. Affidavits and Statutory Declarations are often useful tools in Small Claims Court, before the Landlord & Tenant Board, etc.
An Affidavit is a legal document which you would use to aid in establishing some legal right. You assert it as being true by either making an affirmation or swearing an oath to the truth of the Affidavit. This is done in the presence of a commissioner, who will affix their stamp to the Affidavit and sign it. This process can also be used to attach an exhibit to an Affidavit, or to make a Statutory Declaration. Generally, a Statutory Declaration is used in place of an Affidavit when there is no legal requirement for an Affidavit, but you still need to establish a legal right.
You need to be aware that, for all three of these items,
- an Affidavit,
- an Exhibit attached to an Affidavit, and,
- a Statutory Declaration,
you are stating that the contents are true. A commissioner is not responsible for the truth of the contents, only for making sure that it is properly created and is legally valid. Under the Criminal Code of Canada, there are very harsh penalties for making a false Affidavit or Statutory Declaration.
Like any other paralegal in Ontario, the reason for us to commission an Affidavit or a Statutory Declaration must fall within the permitted scope of practice of a paralegal, which, under By-Law 4 of the Law Society of Upper Canada, includes;
- a proceeding in the Small Claims Court,
- a Provincial Offences Act proceeding in the Ontario Court of Justice (ex: traffic tickets, etc.),
- before an Ontario or a Federal tribunal (ex: Landlord & Tenant Board),
- a matter in a summary conviction court under the Criminal Code of Canada,
- a matter under some sections of the Insurance Act.
A paralegal would not be able to help you with, for example, real estate matters, divorce, making a will, etc. In these situations, you would need to consult a lawyer.
If you are in need of this service, phone us at 613-296-3285 or contact us by e-mail to see if we can help you. We'll ask you a few questions, and let you know if this is something we can do for you. Be assured that all information you provide us with is completely confidential.
Allen Paralegal Services