u/NeedHelp11212j

I'm based in Vancouver and my partner has hired MacLeans to represent them. Due to their terrible reputation, I find myself spending a lot of time looking for a decent lawyer without any luck. I had gone with another big firm before but that was a terrible experience as the lawyer obviously didn't know what they were doing since they couldn't answer basic questions on a call and kept changing their opinions and instructions. If a big and "reputable" firm failed so remarkably, how in the hell am I supposed to find a competent lawyer?

Online reviews don't help because nearly every firm I've looked at fakes their reviews. It's so obvious when their writing idiosyncrasies are repeated in different authors, with many authors having written just 1 or 2 reviews.

Then there's the outrageous retainer agreements where they charge a "performance fee" in addition to their high hourly rates. If they do an exceptional job, they can just charge their clients more. No maximum. Vague wording. And account opening and closing fees in the mid hundreds? COME ON.

Next, and I blame this on MacLeans, some of these (totally organically "top rated" /s) lawyers are complete assholes. I've had a call recently with a lawyer who put me down, cut me off repeatedly when I was asking an important question, etc (I wasn't even rambling, I was just 3-4 words in). I'm assuming they behave this way because they want to put up a "bulldog" image but if I'm going to be paying $600/hr to be verbally abused, I'd rather do it in a sex dungeon.

So please tell me, where and how am I supposed to find a competent lawyer? Referrals? From who? I don't know anyone who's divorced (yet!)

In my search for a divorce lawyer in Vancouver, I'm seeing so many blatant fake reviews for firms and the lawyers in the firms. I'm talking about reviews written with the same idiosyncrasies and by reviewers with only 1 review in their histories.

Would you hire these firms? I personally wouldn't for anything else but it's been so hard finding a competent lawyer who won't bleed you dry with extravagant charges.

I don't work with divorce lawyers enough to know if this is a standard clause or not but it seems crazy to be charged extra in an uncapped amount PLUS for results I'm already paying for at a high hourly rate.

The clause (using AI to rewrite it so I don't have this firm hunting me down):

> 5. FEES TO REFLECT THE VALUE OF OUR SERVICES

> Although our fees will generally be calculated based on the actual time spent working on your matter, the total fees charged may also take into account the value of the services we provide to you.

> For example, if we achieve an exceptionally good result for you, our total fees may be higher than they would be based only on a simple calculation of the hours spent.

> In determining the value of our services, we may consider whether:

> * we obtained an exceptionally good result for you;

• your matter was urgent and required us to set aside work on other files;
• we had to work outside normal business hours; and/or
• your matter was extremely complex.

I'm in BC.

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UPDATE: Just got another retaining agreement from a different firm and they have the same clause! So this is just the norm? Crazy.

I had a consultation call with a family law lawyer who has great online reviews (I know they can be faked but I don't have anything else to go off by). The lawyer was fantastic in their knowledge and quickly aligned me in the right path in terms of how to fill out the paperwork without overexposing myself.

However, they would talk over me often when I was asking my questions, which resulted in them going on long tangents about topics I wasn't inquiring about. I run a small cyclical business and currently the industry is in a trough situation, and they said that I was better off working at McDonald's given my company's situation. Funny enough, they seemed more upset at the work of the previous lawyer than I was, which could either be a good or bad thing?

Basically, I'm not sure if I'm thick skinned enough to work with a lawyer like this but they've been the most knowledgeable lawyer I've spoken with.

Do I try to suck it up and go with them? Finding a good lawyer has been really difficult...

EDIT: Thanks for all of your comments. I've decided to retain this asshole of a lawyer.