Answers to the questions we hear most.

A boutique business law firm for founders and growing businesses across Ontario. We help businesses build and maintain a strong legal foundation, from corporate set-up and shareholder agreements to the contracts your business runs on and the compliance behind your privacy and marketing practices. We also act for individuals and families on residential real estate and estate planning.

Founders, small and growing businesses, and the people behind them. Some clients are incorporating for the first time. Others have been running for years and have outgrown the arrangements they started with. On residential real estate and Wills, we also act for individuals, couples and families.

Ontario. Align Counsel is licensed to practice law in the Province of Ontario and works with clients across the province. Our office is at 2 Bloor Street East, Suite 3500, Toronto.

No. We work with clients wherever they are in Ontario, without unnecessary office visits or rigid scheduling. If you would rather meet at the office, you’re welcome to.

We tell you early. Where something falls outside the work we’ve agreed to do, we either quote it separately or refer you to the right specialist. Trademark and patent prosecution, for example, goes to a registered agent. Nothing outside your agreed scope is quietly added to your bill.

Once we understand the scope of the work, we send you a written scope and a fixed-fee quote before anything begins. You know what’s included and what it costs before you decide to go ahead.

No. We don’t bill hourly. Every engagement is priced at a fixed fee, whether that’s a one-off matter or a flat monthly retainer.

Because it aligns our interests with yours. You never hold back a question because of what it might cost, and we’re never rewarded for taking longer. We also build efficient systems and pass those savings on, which keeps fees lower and more predictable.

Only if the work materially changes, and never without talking to you first. If something comes up that falls outside the agreed scope, we tell you before doing it and discuss any additional fee with you.

Nothing. The first conversation is on us. It’s a chance to understand what you need, answer your initial questions, and work out the best way to help, before there’s any fee or commitment.

More than filing the incorporation. It means choosing the right structure and jurisdiction, organizing share ownership around how you actually plan to grow, and putting in place the minute book and annual filings that keep the company in good standing. We also clean up companies that were set up quickly and have gaps.

Ownership, decision-making, equity, and what happens in a dispute or an exit. Without one, Ontario’s Business Corporations Act and your articles answer those questions for you. We draft new agreements, review agreements you’ve been asked to sign, and update ones a business has outgrown.

A written agreement that reflects the working relationship you actually have. Whether someone is an employee or an independent contractor matters, and getting it wrong carries real consequences. The agreement is also where IP ownership, confidentiality and termination terms get settled.

Usually a combination of the two: clearing and registering your trademark where registration is worth it, and making sure what your contractors and employees create is actually assigned to the company in writing. We handle strategy, clearance and drafting, and refer you to a registered agent for trademark or patent prosecution where that’s required.

At a minimum, a privacy policy that reflects how you actually collect and use personal information, and terms that set the rules for using your site or service. PIPEDA sets the rules most Canadian businesses work under, and CASL applies to email marketing. Generic templates tend to leave gaps in predictable places.

The commitment letter or term sheet first, while the terms are still negotiable, then the loan and security documents: what security you’re giving, whether there’s a personal guarantee and whether it can be capped or released, and what triggers a default. We can also help if the commitment letter is already signed.

Your lease or offer to lease, explained in plain terms: base rent and operating costs, personal guarantees, assignment, renewal and exit, and whether the important provisions are market standard. It’s best done before you sign, but we can also review a lease you’re already in.

Yes. We handle residential purchases, sales, condominium transactions, refinances and private mortgages across Ontario, acting for buyers, sellers and borrowers. We can review an agreement of purchase and sale before you sign, and provide independent legal advice where a lender requires it.