I’m a Guelph lawyer providing service in Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto and the GTA. Other locations available on request.

Service is 24/7 with day, evening and weekend appointments available.

My expertise is in startups and business law, and my team provides real estate closings, Wills, and other common legal services.

How to Choose the Right Lawyer

You will likely find your lawyer in 1 of 2 ways:

  1. via Google search — and select someone from the first page of results
  2. referral — from a friend or family member

Here’s the risk: just because someone ranks high on Google doesn’t mean they are a good lawyer, and similarly if a lawyer did a Will for your friend they may not be the best person to help sell your house.

Guelph is home to 182 lawyers and 29 paralegals and most of us are in private practice. So with such a large group to choose from, how do you choose the right lawyer?

I recommend ranking your options on three major points:

  1. Expertise – does the lawyer appear to have expertise in the area of law you require? If they have written articles or spoken publicly about a topic this would be a strong indicator.
  2. Online Reviews – the internet loves to complain, so it’s easy to find negative reviews of almost any business. And if you just read testimonials on the lawyer’s site of course they will all be positive. If you find positive reviews from a neutral source these should be given more weight, and even better if the lawyer directs you to this source. E.g., here is my Google plus page where clients review my work.
  3. Good Character – the vast majority of lawyers I know are good people. They are trustworthy, discrete and work hard for clients. However, I’ve also met lawyers who brag about how they bill clients for work they didn’t actually do. Good character is a judgement call, and if you consciously assess it you can better protect yourself. Here’s another example: watch our for lawyers that promise you results that seem too good to be true. Most cases have good arguments for both sides, and a good lawyer will tell you a reasonable range of results.

For general recommendations, see the list below.

Recommended Lawyers in Guelph

Important: These lawyers do not work with my firm, but I have worked with each of them in the past and trust that they will take good care of you.

kristina-tesser Kristina Tesser – Kristina is a family law lawyer who mostly does litigation (i.e., divorce where the parties haven’t agreed on terms). She is smart, empathetic and appreciates the urgency of your matter.
evan-campbell-lawyer Evan Campbell – Evan is another lawyer practicing with Miller Thomson in Guelph. He specializes in employment and labour law, so if you are hiring, firing, or otherwise involved in an employee/employer relationship I recommend you give him a call BEFORE you make the big decision. Profile here, phone: 519-780-4634 and email: [email protected].
dennis-crawford-litigator Dennis Crawford – Dennis is a Civil Litigation Lawyer with Monteith Ritsma Phillips. His office is in Stratford, but meeting with him is worth the travel time. Dennis is a smart, balanced and extremely effective litigator. If your dispute is in court, I recommend reviewing Dennis’ site here. If you are considering litigation related to HVAC liens in Ontario, then see Dennis’ site Ontario HVAC Scam.