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Legal Guides

Plain-language guides to hiring a lawyer and understanding your options, written for the public.

Downtown Edmonton skyline featuring the Walterdale Bridge spanning across the Saskatchewan River.

Family Law How to Hire a Family Lawyer in Edmonton In Edmonton the biggest thing to divide in a separation is often a pension, not the house. Why that shapes who you hire, and how to choose a family lawyer here.

A well-dressed man in a bright red turban leans against a railing inside an office building.

Data & Trends After English and French, Punjabi Is the Language Canada's Lawyers Speak Beyond English and French, Punjabi is the language most often offered by lawyers in our directory, ahead of Hindi, Spanish, and Mandarin. The legal profession mirrors the immigration map.

Downtown Calgary skyline as viewed from directly underneath a vibrant red pedestrian bridge.

Family Law How to Hire a Family Lawyer in Calgary Two things shape a Calgary divorce: which court you're in, since only King's Bench grants one, and how you prove an energy-sector income. How to hire for both.

A well dressed male attorney adjusts the buttons on his suit

Data & Trends Most Canadian Law Firms Are One Person In our directory, 54 percent of law firms are a single lawyer, and only 20 firms in the whole country have 100 or more. The image of Big Law is a rounding error.

Divorce paperwork sits on a wooden desk beside a laptop, pen, file folders, and two separated wedding rings, with a softly blurred mountain view through the window in the background.

Family Law How to Get a Divorce in Alberta A plain-language walkthrough of getting a divorce in Alberta: the one-year rule, the Court of King's Bench desk divorce, the real forms and fees, and the timeline.

A group of five young lawyers, three male and two female, dressed in business attire with serious looks on their faces

Data & Trends More Than Half of Canada's Listed Lawyers Were Called to the Bar Since 2010 The median lawyer in our directory was called to the bar in 2013, and more than half were called since 2010. Here is what the numbers show, and what they leave out.

The front facade of Osgoode Hall in Toronto, Ontario, a late-Palladian style landmark building originally finished in 1832.

Data & Trends Where Canada's Lawyers Went to Law School Osgoode Hall leads, but the surprise is Windsor, which outranks older and more selective schools. Here is the law school behind Canada's working lawyers.

Two empty Muskoka chairs sit on a cottage deck overlooking a serene lake through a cluster of tall pine trees.

Family Law Dividing a Lake Simcoe Cottage in a Divorce The family cottage on Lake Simcoe can count as a second matrimonial home, its full value shared even if one of you owned it first. How Ontario law treats it.

A serious couple sits at a dining table in a bright home, reviewing divorce paperwork and a laptop, with a wedding ring on the table and a snowy Toronto skyline through the window.

Family Law How to Get a Divorce in Ontario A plain-language walkthrough of getting a divorce in Ontario: the one-year rule, the forms, filing online, what the court fees really are, and how long it takes.