Frequently Asked Questions

What is the meaning of “trial counsel”?

The term trial counsel means trial lawyer. Trial counsel may be retained by other lawyers or the general public.

Mick Hassell has significant trial experience, which is available to lawyers, business owners and individuals, including self-represented litigants, by way of trial resources, trial consulting and in select cases trial representation.

What are the most popular trial resources?

For cases in the early stages, our litigation book Civil Litigation D.I.Y. is the most popular as it addresses how to value, assemble, settle and try cases.

For cases approaching a pre-trial conference or trial, our trial book HOW TO WINg A TRIAL and the Ontario Civil Trial Checklist are the most bang for your buck. The trial book is a short, easy read. The trial checklist will help you get ready for trial.

There are many free trial resources, the most popular of which are the Ontario Civil Trial Manual and the Pre-Trial Conference Checklist.

What does litigation / trial consulting look like?

Our litigation consulting and trial consulting follows a 3-step process:

  1. Review – for litigation consultations, we’ll review a summary and key documents, or pleadings and key documents. For trial consultations we’ll review mediation briefs, or pre-trial conference briefs.
  2. Discuss – a telephone call to discuss the case and any questions.
  3. Advice – litigation recommendations will address how to value, assemble, settle and try claims (the VAST Claims Methodology). Trial recommendations will generally look at some or all of the 6 Trial Fundamentals.

The objective of any consultation is to add value to your case by assessing the situation, answering your questions and recommending a course of action.

What consulting fee arrangements are available?

Single litigation consultations and single trial consultations are quoted on a fixed fee basis.

On-going trial consulting may be based on a fixed fee, hourly rate or daily rate.

Any suggestions for making the most of a consultation?

Pro tip: to make the most of a consultation, it may help to explore our trial resources first, as many common litigation and trial issues are addressed by the trial resources. This will help focus your questions and elevate our discussion during the consultation.

How do I get started with litigation / trial consulting?

To start the process, please consult trial counsel here.

What trial representation options are there?

Our trial representation is for select cases only. Trial representation fees are quoted on a case-by-case basis. Trial is intensive and involves a lot of work. For each day of trial there are a few days of preparation. Similarly for each week of trial there are a few weeks of preparation.

Due to the intensive nature of trials, preparing a trial fee quote may require some degree of document review and/or client and witness interviews. If we charge a fee to evaluate a case for potential trial representation, the case evaluation fee will be applied to any trial fee quote and we will provide trial recommendations based on our evaluation.

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