Current Version: 1.1 (Implemented January 18, 2012) Version 1.0

Inter-Agency Work Agreement

Version 1.3 - Updated Aug 9, 2012

Thank you for contracting Road Warriors to act as your representative in Niagara. We can appear for you in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland, but we do not appear for agency work in Fort Erie. Please read through the following agreement, as it covers our services as representative and provides information for the Niagara court system that you may need in order to complete your matter.

Our Services

As your representative in Niagara, we will perform the following services:

• Attending all court appearances
• Reviewing disclosure & sending suggestions for additional disclosure if needed
• Sending updates and dispositions to the agent in charge of the file
• Filing Notices of Intention to Appear
• Drafting and filing motions for adjournment in situations where we must seek adjournment because of our scheduling conflicts
• Sending notifications to have your client request transcripts (with instructions for how to do so)
• Sending 1 notification for a potential 11B situation
• Confirming attendance via email or fax

Please note that we always send confirmation of attendance for any matter we agree to appear on. If you have sent us files but have not received a confirmation email or fax from us, then it is likely we have not received your files and will not be appearing on your behalf. If you do not hear from us within 48 hours of sending us a file or the day before the court date, whichever is sooner, ensure to contact our office directly by phone to follow up.

We will not provide any of the following services for agency work:

• Requesting any disclosure or additional disclosure
• Contacting the prosecutor outside of court
• Drafting, serving or filing 11B applications
• Having any communication with your client prior to the trial date
• Drafting and filing motions for adjournment in situations where your agency or the client is seeking adjournment (ex. The client cannot attend court that day)
• Requesting transcripts

Please note that we cannot accept agency work that has been forwarded to you already by another agent. If you wish to subcontract Road Warriors Paralegal Services to appear for a matter on your behalf, the client must have retained your office directly and not been subcontracted to you by another agent. Please ensure to include proof that you are the primary agent for the client when sending us a file.

Requirements for representation

The court system in Niagara is very strict, and inter-agency work is heavily scrutinized for even the smallest error. As such, we must be very careful in order to ensure we have everything we will need to appear on your client’s behalf. Please ensure to include the following with your client’s file:

• Retainer agreement signed by the agent and client with authorization for the principal representative to hire another representative (namely Ed Kocet) to work on the file
  • We cannot accept “consent to transfer” files. There must be an agreement that your client will be jointly represented by you and Ed Kocet
• If the retainer agreement specifies a business name as retained for representation, we require the name of the agent in charge of the file on the fax cover sheet or email indicating that they are the principal representative, and as such jointly liable and responsible for the file
• Instructions for the next court date and written & signed authorization from the client for those instructions (if not included in the retainer agreement)
• Our written guilty plea authorization for major offences if applicable (fines of $1000 or higher, possible jail time, possible license suspension, all C.V.O.R. / C.M.V. Cases, all Part 3 matters)
  • As previously specified, inter-agency work in Niagara is heavily scrutinized, particularly for client authorization on guilty pleas for serious matters. This is why we require the separate guilty plea authorization for these matters. Please ensure to have your client sign the plea authorization as early as possible to avoid potential delays or problems with representation.
  • A template that can be used for your client's guilty plea authorization can be downloaded here
• It is highly recommended that our representative's name be in your guilty plea authorization / run trial authorization. Namely, please include Ed Kocet's name to the authorization. Some justices will deny us standing, and your matter could be forced to trial convicted 9.1 as a result
• A written account of the incident from your client if they dispute the allegations in full or if they need to give evidence in court
• Any disclosure or disclosure requests made, including fax confirmation sheets for requests
• If the matter is for a company, the articles of corporation for said company showing the signed client has signing authority
• 59(2) information if a reduction from the statutory minimum fine is sought
• Sentencing submission information for Part 3 matters

Your Responsibilities

As principal representative, you will agree to the following:

• To ensure that you have received confirmation from Road Warriors that we agree will be in attendance on your client's behalf
  • Please note that we always send confirmation of attendance for any matter we agree to appear on. If you have sent us files but have not received a confirmation email or fax from us, then it is likely we have not received your files and will not be appearing on your behalf. If you do not hear from us within 48 hours of sending us a file or the day before the court date, whichever is sooner, ensure to contact our office directly by phone to follow up.
• To reconfirm instructions with the defendant after reviewing disclosure with them (preferably in writing, but alternately taking note of your conversation with the defendant confirming the written instruction obtained prior to disclosure review)
• To maintain full communications with the prosecution
• To maintain regular communication with the defendant and update them on all adjournments and dispositions
• To remain aware of any expiry dates on potential resolutions with the prosecution and to review the resolution with your client before said date. If your client intends to accept the resolution, the principal representative must inform Road Warriors in writing that the client is favourable and authorization to plead guilty to the resolved charge must exist in the file.
  • If the offence is a Part 1 charge, authorization to plead to a lesser and included charge given in the signed retainer agreement will be sufficient
  • If the offence is a Part 3 charge or a CVOR/MTO matter, we will require a separate guilty plea authorization allowing Ed Kocet and/or Randy Houlahan to plead guilty to a lesser and included charge on the client's behalf
  • If a resolution has been offered but your client is not favourable and has evidence to present to the contrary of the charge, they should be present for trial.
• To prepare the defendant for testifying in court prior to the trial date if they will be attending
• To do legal research and prepare any trial defence for us
• To request and procure any necessary transcripts
• To serve and file all documents, using express post or a courier service (We do this for all the Niagara courts)
• To send us all client and court correspondence as soon as you receive it

Our billing structure

Block Fee: $150 + HST = $169.50 for St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Falls Provincial Offences Courts.
Late Fee: $50

If you send us a matter in less than 7 days before the next scheduled court date and you were not retained within 2 weeks of said court date, we charge a $50 late fee in order to appear. As we cover all the courts in Niagara, we often have to file motions for adjournment because of scheduling conflicts, and the more notice we have of an upcoming court date the more likely it is we will be able to fit it into our schedule.

APPEALS:

Please note that the above billing structure does not apply for appeals. As appeal court does not take place in the provincial offences courts, we rarely are in attendance for appeals, and as such we charge a minimum of $1000.00 to cover appeals cases, and suggest you charge your clients accordingly if you plan to subcontract us for appeal work.

Further Information

As we will not contact the court offices, prosecution or court reporters for inter-agency work, you may need any of the following information:

Please note that as of June 2012, all the municipal prosecution for Niagara Region courts has been consolidated at the Welland P.O.C. All requests for disclosure or resolution should be sent to the prosecution coordinator at the Welland P.O.C. fax number.

We have a blank copy of the transcript request form for Niagara available on our website, found here. Have the form filled out and fax it to the appropriate court. Ensure you put your contact information on the form for payment purposes, as the courts contract the work to different reporters, and each of them has their own methods of receiving payment.

Be advised that we make our own clients request their transcripts and pay for them, and we suggest that you do the same.

In Niagara there is usually a minimum of 8 weeks turn-around time for receiving transcripts, so we suggest that you allow at least 11 weeks before the trial time if you are requesting them for 11B purposes or otherwise.

Please remember that we do not facilitate payment or picking up transcripts for agency work, and you will need to mail the transcripts to us once they are received.

Acknowledgement and Agreement

By having us appear on your matter you agree to and acknowledge all of the above.

Previous versions of this agreement can be found below: