“What! Legal Costs that much?”
Get ready for your worldview to be cracked open.
📬 This week in The Loophole:
How legal fees feel inaccessible (and what’s actually behind the price tag)
The dirty secret about hourly billing nobody tells you
A better way to budget for legal protection—with a copy-paste AI prompt
Reading time: 4 minutes
Before we get into today’s topic, I want to share something from a friend.
Nobody plans to get hit by a car, but your business doesn’t pause when you do. My friend Jodi is running a 4-Week Business Preparedness Series starting March 4th for $247 + HST, designed to help business owners document the critical information their spouse, family, or team would need if they were suddenly unavailable. Think: account access, key contacts, and processes that currently exist only in your head. If you’ve ever thought “if something happened to me tomorrow, no one would know where to start”—this is for you.
Costco is Changing World Views
I was weaving through Costco last Saturday. It was the day before the big deal American football game, and despite the Seattle Seahawks being my husband’s favourite team, it wasn’t on my radar. I should have known better.
But there I was trying to find tofu in a sea of Dorito-buying nonsense.
As I was practicing being the chill person I think I am, I took a shortcut and squeezed my cart through the furniture section. I passed a middle-aged man lounging on a La-Z-Boy display like he was about hunker down and watch the big game. Across from him stood a young woman, maybe 19, staring longingly at a massive sectional couch.
“Look at the price,” he said.
She squinted for the tag, searching. Then, the exact moment her worldview cracked open:
“WHAT! It’s that much? I had NO IDEA furniture cost that much money!”
I laughed out loud. (Sorry, Costco girl.) Because I remember being just like her. Not about furniture but about legal fees.
My Own Costco Girl Moment (But With Legal Fees)
When I was in law school working at a law firm on a placement, I had that exact same ‘Costco girl’ moment. A partner mentioned billing a client five figures for a single contract. My internal reaction was freak out. People PAY that much for some pieces of paper to sign? (My external reaction was chill, like yeah, dropping 5 figures is an everyday occurrence for me.)
I grew up thinking lawyers were expensive in a vague, abstract way—like private islands or private jets. Things other people paid for. Then I learned the actual numbers and realized: oh. THAT’S why there are so many bad lawyer jokes.
So today, let’s do what that girl’s dad might have done on the ride home: break down what legal services actually cost and why.
First: Law School Isn’t Cheap
Let’s start here: Canadian law school tuition ranges from $13,000 to $19,800 per year. That’s $40,000–$60,000 for three years of tuition alone—not counting books (another $1,500/year), living expenses, or the undergrad degree you need to even apply. Most lawyers graduate with over $100,000 of debt before they bill their first hour.
An American legal education can cost three times as much as a Canadian one. Another reason to love Canada 🇨🇦.
Then: Your Lawyer’s Clock Is Always Ticking
Here’s how it works: lawyers track time in minute increments. They track and bill every email, phone call, contract review, and court appearance
In Ontario, hourly rates look something like this:
Junior lawyers (0-5 years): $150–$300/hour
Mid-level lawyers (5-12 years): $300–$500/hour
Senior lawyers (12-20 years): $325–$600/hour
Big firm partners (20+ years): $600–$800+/hour
Here's the uncomfortable truth about hourly billing: there's no incentive to work faster. If a lawyer can finish your contract in 3 hours but bills you for 5—because they rounded up tasks or weren't perfectly efficient—you're paying for time, not results. The system rewards thoroughness, sure, but it also rewards slowness. And clients have no way to know the difference.
This is something to think about when you ask a lawyer to “just review this contract clause quickly.” What you think as a 10-minute job might actually be 2 hours of work (reading, researching, drafting notes, talking to other lawyers). At $400/hour? That’s an $800 invoice in your inbox.
What You’ll Actually Pay (Deep Breath)
Here’s what common small business legal services actually cost in Ontario:
Incorporating a basic business: $1,500–$3,000 (government filing fee alone is $300)
Drafting a shareholders’ agreement: $5,000–$15,000 (review only: around $550–$1,000)
Employment contract review: $500–$5000
Trademark application: $2,000–$4,000 total, spread over 1-2 years (plus government fees)
And that’s for small business legal work. Want to start a lawsuit? That’s $5,000+ just to file. A single court appearance? $1,000+. Mediation? $7,500–$8,000. Complex trial? $40,000–$100,000+. Crazy, headline-making corporate trials can cost 7 figures.
So... Were You Surprised?
Maybe you’re like that girl at Costco, realizing for the first time that legal protection costs more than your monthly car payment. Or maybe you already knew—and that’s exactly why you’ve been avoiding it.
Here’s the reality: legal work is expensive because the costs are real. Law school isn’t cheap, and regulation, insurance, and overhead get passed directly to clients.
But there’s another reason good lawyers cost what they do. Knowledgeable legal experience doesn’t come easy. A good lawyer takes time to thoroughly understand your situation, your risks, and your hopes for the future. They invest in learning before they advise.
Wanting cheap legal advice is like wanting an orthopedic surgeon to operate without first identifying which bone is broken.
You Can Afford To Plan to Pay Legal Fees
It’s not perfect for every situation—complex litigation still needs hourly billing—but for incorporation, contracts, trademarks, and most small business legal work? Flat fees are a game-changer.
But when business owners avoid legal protection because of cost? That’s how $2,000 worth of prevention becomes $20,000 worth of litigation.
The real question isn’t “Can I afford a lawyer?” It’s “Can I afford NOT to have one when I need them?”
(Spoiler: You can’t.)
If you’re at the stage where you’re thinking about incorporation, hiring your first person, or signing a partnership agreement, let’s talk. I work on flat fees so you know exactly what you’re paying before we start. No Costco-style sticker shock.
Build smart,
Sonya
P.S. For those of you who may have been too distracted by competing football-adjacent headlines this week… the Seahawks won! Yay! Happy Szabo household.
P.P.S. Want to figure out what legal protection should actually cost your business? Copy and paste this into your AI chatbot:
“I’m a [type of business] in [province/state], [country]. I’ve been operating for [X years] as a [sole proprietor/corporation]. I currently make approximately $[revenue] per year and my next big business goal is [hiring my first employee / bringing on a business partner / protecting my brand / signing my first big contract]. Based on this, what are the top 3 legal services I should budget for in the next 12 months, and what should I expect to pay for each?”
It won’t replace a real lawyer (hi 👋)—but it’ll help you walk into that conversation knowing your numbers. If you need help budgeting, use this prompt with your AI chatbot of choice to calculate how much your legal solution will cost you.