As one of the two founding partners of Harris & Brun Law Corporation in 1984, I am delighted to assist in the launch of the latest version of our firm’s website with authoring the first blog.
On our redesigned website, one of the first things you will notice is an image of medieval goldsmiths hard at work. This image is taken from the mural on the east side of The Randall Building, the heritage building initially completed in 1929, which our firm calls home. This mural, completed in 1993, is based on a copper engraving from 1698 by Christopher Weigel and depicts a master goldsmith instructing his apprentices in their skilled trade. We feel this mural best represents our motto of service to our clients: “Care and Commitment”. There is a longstanding history of care and commitment in The Randall Building dating back to the brokerage firm of S. W. Randall Co., and jewelers Toni Cavelti and Henry Birks. The law firm of Harris & Brun upholds these same values.
I recently spent considerable time with a potential client in an initial interview; and after the initial interview concluded, I invited him to go to other firms and, if he was satisfied with what he had seen from us, to come back. To my delight, the potential client came back and asked me if we would accept him as a client. He reported he had been to six other law firms before realizing that we were his best choice. It is interesting to consider what he found attractive in our firm.
In the first firm subsequent to ours he was met with a legal administrative assistant who asked him to fill in some standard forms concerning the nature of his claim, the other parties involved, and the names and addresses of all of the potential expert and lay witnesses. After he had filled in this form for over an hour, a lawyer then came into the interview room and gave him 10 minutes of her time.
In the next firm, he was attracted because the advertisement announced that the firm spoke his native language. However, when he came for his interview there was nobody in the initial interview who spoke his language! Following that, he went to another firm where he had a senior lawyer, a junior lawyer, a paralegal, and an administrative assistant all in the same room listening to his claim. He felt intimidated by the number of persons in the room and wondered why so many people were duplicating effort by making the same notes about his case.
In another firm, he was interviewed by a junior lawyer who had relatively little experience in the subject matter of his claim. His inquiry at another firm resulted in the firm emailing him a retainer contract, which the firm asked him to sign and return before the initial interview. At the final firm, the lawyer who saw him look like he was “dressed to go to a nightclub” (the client’s own words).
I am delighted that this client came back to us after seeing other firms, but I am not surprised. At Harris & Brun Law Corporation, we are proud of the experienced team of lawyers, paralegals, and legal administrative assistants we have assembled. We are able to deal with the most complex and most simple civil litigation matters with cost-based efficiency. We do not accept retainers by email, over the internet, or telephone; however, we encourage you to request a free consultation through any of these means. We insist that you have a face-to-face personal interview with a lawyer – the lawyer that you have chosen – who will ensure he or she fully understands the facts before executing a retainer agreement and providing you with any legal advice as appropriate. Not everyone has a claim or a case that has a legal solution; once it has been determined that your case has a legal solution, you will be given a choice as to whether you wish us to represent you. No pressure, no hard sells. The steps to be taken in your legal proceeding will be fully explained to you and the costs of those steps fully canvassed.
The language spoken here is primarily English but members of our team speak Punjabi, French, Cantonese, and Tagalog and are ready to assist. Further, we routinely engage the services of interpreters when appropriate. The atmosphere in the firm is informal but respectful. We treat our clients and potential clients with respect.
We have lawyers who occupy a wide range of experiences and expertise: our experience working for individuals, businesses, and insurers makes us more-rounded lawyers, which in turn enables us to serve you better.
While we recognize that most cases are settled out of court, our trial lawyers have successfully represented clients in hundreds of Supreme Court trials, including trials by judge alone and by judge with a jury. If we are unable to reach a fair and reasonable settlement, we have the expertise to advance your case at trial.
Although our web site has just been re-launched, “Care and Commitment” has been our motto since 1984. We care for our clients and we are committed to fight hard for them in the resolution of their legal disputes.