A lot of Canadians think that having legal counsel is important for the smooth processing of their Pardon. People with prior convictions will generally be overpaying lawyers with regards to the handling of the relevant application. Such a process of application is indeed rich with detail and honed in on the specifics, but does not actually need an attorney. The truth is that there are far cheaper and easier choices that will bring a Pardon to a person, allowing them to move on with their life.
The application process for what is now called a Record Suspension will indeed bring much to a person’s life if successful: an increased chance for employments, access to tertiary education institutes, and the ability to travel without a hinderance.
Such pressing concerns will indeed motivate a person to hire a lawyer to ensure that such processing goes on without any issues. Many lawyers will ironically hand down such work to a junior associate or the like, and will then credit the client the full premium fee as if they themselves spent their valuable time working on your request.
A Very Costly Service
When reviewing the average cost of hiring a legal professional for such matters, you will find that they will bill you around $500 an hour, and that is just the minimum. You may also find that such attorneys will not even have specialized in the laws and regulations stipulated to Pardon application systems, and you will receive back slapdash work that has been inappropriately fulfilled by someone that briefly researched what is required from then.
Such shoddy work will then be returned to you by the official bureaus involved as incorrectly filled out, delaying the entire process significantly, not to mention the additional costs you will now have to pay for. Do not expect to be provided with a finalized price from attorneys – as such possible delays mean that an exact time frame cannot be predicted.
While some attorneys will only charge you for around four hours’ worth of work, many others will take around six or eight hours longer to fulfill your needs. You can easily expect a final bill of several thousand dollars.
A wiser decision which bypasses a load of wasted money and time is to trust in a service company which specializes (with accreditation) in the Pardon Application clearing process. Such a service will charge you a fixed fee – something generally around $1,200.
Source: National Pardon
