Commercial Lawyers
Boavista, your partner in all your business
Our approach to commercial law
The challenges of starting and operating a business are manifold: competitive markets, limited financial assistance, disruption of supply chains, management of regulatory and governance risks, emergence of AI and new technologies, geopolitical instability.
More than half of the businesses in Quebec operate in Montreal, but the number of new companies is declining and well-established companies are struggling to find the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Boavista Legal Services assists individuals and companies of all sizes and backgrounds in strategic support, problem solving, conflict resolution and representation before the courts. The firm practices in a wide range of areas: civil law, commercial law, employment law, business law, family law, personal and youth law, real estate law and property law.
Do you want to sell your business, but are worried that your divorce or separation will complicate the transaction? No problem! Would you like advice on how to prepare your commercial contracts, but also how to negotiate with your suppliers or defend yourself or your company in court? Boavista Legal Services is here to assist you!
✦ Process
Our approach
At the heart of our practice is our lawyers' commitment to putting our clients first. We understand that every legal situation is unique, and we take the time to listen, understand your situation and develop the best strategy for you.
Consultation
A legal consultation is the first essential step in accessing our services. During this consultation, our lawyers will have the opportunity to hear and better understand your situation, so as to best answer your questions and concerns.
Legal advice
Thanks to their in-depth knowledge of various areas of law, our lawyers can provide you with legal advice and solutions that arerelevant and tailored to your situation.
Representation
You can count on the oratory skills and determination of our lawyers to represent you and defend your interests before courts or government agencies.
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What does a commercial lawyer do?
A commercial lawyer is a lawyer with multidisciplinary knowledge of the legal aspects of business administration. A commercial lawyer can assist you with commercial contracts, corporate governance, legal compliance, environmental law, competition, language rights, privacy and personal information, technology and AI, and intellectual property.
The commercial lawyer typically serves entrepreneurs, start-ups or SMEs that do not yet have lawyers in their employ. He may also represent or assist established companies or multinationals to support their legal departments or advise them on technical or complex issues. They can also represent an individual in a conflict with a business or organization.
Services Offered in Commercial Law
Frequently Asked Questions
The work of a commercial lawyer often overlaps with that of a business lawyer, but certain distinctions must be made.
The business or corporate law lawyer focuses mainly on the initial creation of the company and on major transactions or operations such as mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, liquidation and dissolution of companies.
The commercial lawyer is particularly interested in relations within the company and between companies and how to solve the problems that may arise in this global context. A commercial lawyer or commercial litigation lawyer is more involved in dispute resolution than a business or corporate lawyer. In addition, it is not uncommon to see a commercial lawyer specialize in a specific area, such as insurance, bankruptcy and insolvency, intellectual property, or privacy, while the business lawyer is typically more of a generalist.
Since commercial lawyers are often involved in the resolution of major commercial disputes and problems, their pricing and invoicing is often done at an hourly rate.
This means that they have a set price per hour, and they count the hours spent to solve your problem to determine the final bill.
Hourly rates vary significantly depending on the size of the firm in which the lawyer practices, his years of experience, his area of practice and his reputation. For example, one can find hourly rates as low as $100 per hour (which can only be found among very young lawyers or those who practice in a small firm or on their own account) and hourly rates of up to $1,500.00 (which is possible for a lawyer from a national or international firm with decades of experience in a highly specialized field such as intellectual property or taxation).
For specific services, it is possible to agree on a fixed price (flat rate) or percentage billing. You can discuss with your commercial lawyer during the initial consultation to see if you can use these alternative billing methods.
For example, the drafting of a contract could be part of a fixed price, but due diligence or legal representation will normally have to be invoiced at an hourly rate.
Before taking your case, the commercial lawyer must meet with you, analyze your problem and present you with one or more solutions. Each solution may evolve differently and require different costs or time.
That's why at Boavista Legal Services we start each case with an initial consultation to analyse your case and present you with the winning solutions from the start. To learn more about our services or book a consultation, contact us now!
Sometimes a consultation is enough to solve the problem, and so much the better!
If not, the lawyer will have offered you a solution. The real work will begin when you give them the mandate to implement the solution and pay an initial deposit or advance fee.
Each case is unique, and our lawyers rely on creativity, innovation and excellence to find targeted solutions to each of the problems you report.
It is therefore difficult to predict exactly how a commercial law case will evolve, but we can expect the case to go through some of these main stages.
1. The initial consultation
Every case begins with a one-hour legal consultation that aims to analyze your case, identify possible solutions and answer any questions you may have.
This is the gateway to all our commercial law services, as it is difficult to pinpoint the appropriate solution without having analysed the problem.
After your initial consultation, a detailed quote or contract will be sent to you that will give you all the details of how our services work for your case.
2. Analysis and research
If the commercial lawyer could find the appropriate solution by drawing on his knowledge and experience, he will have already suggested it to you during the initial consultation.
However, given the complexity of some cases, additional research and analysis may be required to more clearly identify the applicable solution(s), determine the chances of success and the return on investment of each solution.
3. Drafting and preparing legal documents
To implement the identified solution, the commercial lawyer will often draft various writings, memos, contracts or legal applications.
Here are the main documents that a commercial lawyer may have to draft:
Legal opinion
A legal opinion is a written document in which the lawyer sets out his legal advice and solutions to solve your problem with the chances of success and the advantages and disadvantages of each solution. This writing deepens the legal advice that the lawyer gives you verbally during the consultation and offers greater reliability and authority because the lawyer has personally signed on this legal opinion and attests to its validity to the best of his or her knowledge and experience.
The contract
The commercial lawyer, more than any other type of lawyer, spends most of his time drafting various contracts (sale, lease, lease, business, service, insurance, mortgage, franchise, etc.)
The Letter of Invitation and Offer of Settlement
In order to initiate negotiations, the commercial lawyer will often send a formal letter of invitation to negotiate or settlement offer.
The legal application and the court motions
When the client chooses the legal route with his commercial lawyer to settle his dispute, the commercial lawyer drafts all the documents required to exercise the recourse (formal notice, originating application, response, oral or written defence, case protocol, request for registration for trial and judgment, request for revocation of judgment, request for leave to appeal, application for judicial review).
4. Negotiation
Negotiation is the process by which the lawyer fully represents your interests and tries to convince the other party to accept your request through various negotiation techniques (questioning, concessions, argumentation).
5. Representation before the courts
Representation before the courts is particularly complex and is governed by rules of evidence and procedure that depend on the nature of the remedy, the area of law and the territory involved.
We encourage you to consult a lawyer to learn more.