1. Acceptance of Terms
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern the use of services provided by Legal Services HQ Incorporation. ("Legal Services HQ Incorporation.", "we", "our", or "us").
By requesting services, submitting an assignment, obtaining a quote, creating an account, uploading documents, making payment, accessing our website, or otherwise engaging Legal Services HQ, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms.
If you are acting on behalf of a corporation, law firm, financial institution, government entity, or other organization, you represent and warrant that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms.
These Terms apply to all services provided by Legal Services HQ unless otherwise agreed to in writing.
2. Description of Services
Legal Services HQ provides litigation support and document management services including, but not limited to: process serving, skip tracing and locates, court filing services, commissioner of oaths services, affidavit preparation, document retrieval, investigative services, courier and delivery services, litigation support services, and other related services offered from time to time.
Services may be performed directly by Legal Services HQ or through authorized employees, contractors, affiliates, agents, or third-party service providers.
All services are provided on a commercially reasonable efforts basis and are subject to availability, legal requirements, court procedures, weather conditions, recipient availability, access restrictions, and other factors beyond our control.
3. No Legal Advice
Legal Services HQ is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
Any information, observations, recommendations, reports, comments, or communications provided by Legal Services HQ are for informational and administrative purposes only and shall not be construed as legal advice.
Clients are solely responsible for determining legal strategy, meeting legal deadlines, selecting legal remedies, ensuring compliance with court rules, and obtaining legal advice where appropriate.
Nothing provided by Legal Services HQ creates a solicitor-client relationship.
4. Client Responsibilities
The client agrees to provide complete, accurate, and current information; provide documents suitable for service or filing; review all documents before submission; verify filing deadlines and legal requirements; promptly respond to requests for information; ensure all contact information remains current; and notify Legal Services HQ of any material changes to an assignment.
Legal Services HQ shall not be liable for any delays, losses, damages, costs, rejected filings, failed service attempts, missed deadlines, or other consequences arising from inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, or misleading information provided by the client, the actions or omissions of third parties, or any circumstance beyond Legal Services HQ's reasonable control.
Except as expressly set out in these Terms, Legal Services HQ makes no guarantee regarding the outcome, acceptance, completion, timing, or success of any assignment.
5. Client Authorization
By submitting an assignment, requesting services, approving a quote, or otherwise engaging Legal Services HQ, the client authorizes Legal Services HQ to take all reasonable steps necessary to complete the requested services.
This authorization includes assigning work to employees, contractors, affiliates, agents, and third-party service providers; communicating with courts, tribunals, government agencies, institutions, property managers, security personnel, employers, and other third parties; preparing affidavits, reports, and supporting documentation based on information collected during an assignment; advancing approved disbursements; utilizing photographs, GPS information, notes, and other evidence collected during assignments; and taking any other reasonable steps necessary to complete the requested service.
The client acknowledges that Legal Services HQ may rely upon information provided by the client and that the client remains responsible for the accuracy of such information.
6. Use of Service Providers
In order to provide services across Canada and other jurisdictions, Legal Services HQ may utilize employees, contractors, agents, affiliates, and third-party service providers.
All services performed by such individuals or organizations are conducted under the direction and coordination of Legal Services HQ.
Clients engage Legal Services HQ as their service provider, and Legal Services HQ remains solely responsible for coordinating, managing, and administering assignments and shall remain the client's primary point of contact throughout the engagement.
While Legal Services HQ takes reasonable steps to select, monitor, and support service providers, certain aspects of service delivery may be affected by circumstances beyond Legal Services HQ's control.
7. Fees and Pricing
Service fees are based on the information available at the time a quote is provided.
Additional fees may apply for additional service attempts, mileage and travel, parking and tolls, rush assignments, rural or remote locations, stakeouts, waiting time, printing and document production, court filing fees, search fees, third-party disbursements, and additional investigative work.
Quotes are estimates only and may be adjusted if assignment details materially change after a quote has been provided.
8. Payment Terms
Legal Services HQ may, at its sole discretion, extend credit terms to certain approved clients, including law firms, financial institutions, government organizations, insurance companies, collection agencies, lenders, and other approved commercial clients ("Approved Credit Clients"). Approval for credit terms may be granted, withheld, suspended, or revoked at any time at the sole discretion of Legal Services HQ.
Approved Credit Clients may be invoiced for services rendered and shall be subject to Net 30 payment terms unless otherwise agreed in writing. Payment is due within thirty (30) days of the invoice date.
Unless otherwise approved by Legal Services HQ in writing, self-represented litigants, individuals, and non-credit clients shall pay for service attempts in advance. The initial service fee shall cover the first service attempt.
If additional service attempts are required, the second service attempt may be completed before payment is requested. If a third service attempt becomes necessary, the client shall be invoiced for both the second and third service attempts before further attempts are scheduled. If a fourth service attempt is authorized, Legal Services HQ may extend temporary credit for that attempt. If a fifth service attempt becomes necessary, the client shall be invoiced for both the fourth and fifth service attempts before further attempts are scheduled.
Legal Services HQ reserves the right to require payment in advance at any stage of an assignment.
Accounts exceeding payment terms may be suspended. Interest may be charged on overdue balances at 2% per month (24% annually) or the maximum rate permitted by law. Any discounts applied to an invoice may be revoked if payment becomes delinquent.
The client shall be responsible for all reasonable collection costs, legal fees, court costs, and recovery expenses incurred by Legal Services HQ.
Legal Services HQ reserves the right to suspend active assignments, withhold affidavits, reports, court filings, service documentation, completed work product, and other deliverables on accounts that are past due until satisfactory payment arrangements have been made.
Unless otherwise directed by Legal Services HQ, payments received may be applied to the oldest outstanding invoices first. Legal Services HQ reserves the right to apply payments to any outstanding balance owed by the client regardless of any invoice reference, file number, matter number, or payment instructions provided by the client.
9. Credit Card Authorization
By providing a credit card, debit card, electronic payment authorization, or other payment method to Legal Services HQ, the client authorizes Legal Services HQ to charge such payment method for approved service requests, outstanding invoices, court filing fees, government fees, search fees, courier fees, disbursements, returned payment fees, administrative fees, and collection-related costs where permitted by law.
The client represents and warrants that they are authorized to use the payment method provided.
If a payment is declined, reversed, disputed, charged back, or otherwise fails, the client remains responsible for all amounts owing and any fees incurred by Legal Services HQ in recovering such amounts.
Legal Services HQ reserves the right to suspend services pending successful payment.
10. Disbursements
Legal Services HQ may advance disbursements on behalf of clients in order to complete assignments.
Disbursements may include, but are not limited to, court filing fees, government fees, witness fees, registry fees, search fees, corporate profile fees, courier fees, printing costs, parking expenses, tolls, travel-related expenses, and third-party service provider fees.
All disbursements advanced by Legal Services HQ are fully recoverable and payable upon invoicing. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, disbursements are not subject to dispute once incurred and are non-refundable.
11. Assignment Cancellations and Changes
Clients may request cancellation of an assignment by providing written notice to Legal Services HQ through an approved communication channel. A cancellation request shall not be deemed effective until it has been received and acknowledged by Legal Services HQ.
Clients acknowledge that emails, text messages, voicemails, portal messages, and other communications may not be reviewed immediately.
Preferred communication for cancellation of service is written communication followed directly by a phone call to Legal Services HQ staff. This helps ensure both written receipt and timely acknowledgement of the cancellation directive.
The burden of confirming cancellation rests solely with the client. Failure to secure confirmation of cancellation directly from Legal Services HQ may result in full charges being applied.
IMMEDIATE (Today) service cannot be cancelled. Once an immediate order is placed, the order is final and full charges will apply.
RUSH-24, RUSH-48, and expedited service may only be cancelled up until 5:00 PM EST the day prior to service. After this, the order is final.
Routine service may be cancelled up to four business hours prior to scheduled service delivery. Business hours are defined as 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST. Once within four business hours, the order is final.
Before dispatch, the client remains responsible for any work already performed, including file review, administrative processing, printing, skip tracing, investigations, searches, court preparation, and any disbursements incurred.
After dispatch but before the first attempt, the client remains responsible for all work performed, administrative costs, dispatch costs, any disbursements incurred, and applicable cancellation fees.
After a process server, investigator, courier, or service provider has begun work on an assignment, the client remains responsible for service fees, attempt fees, mileage, travel time, waiting time, stakeout fees, disbursements, and other charges incurred up to the time cancellation is acknowledged.
Address changes, recipient changes, service instruction changes, deadline changes, or other material modifications requested after an assignment has been accepted may be treated as a new assignment and may result in additional fees. Legal Services HQ reserves the right to re-quote assignments where material changes occur.
12. Process Serving Services
Legal Services HQ will use commercially reasonable efforts to complete service assignments.
Legal Services HQ does not guarantee successful service, cooperation from recipients, acceptance of service, access to recipients, access to secured locations, court acceptance of service, or any particular legal outcome.
Completion estimates are targets only and are not guarantees. Process servers may exercise discretion regarding safety concerns, legal compliance, and practical limitations encountered during service attempts.
13. Service Attempts, Access Restrictions, and Evasive Recipients
Clients acknowledge that successful service may be affected by factors beyond Legal Services HQ's control, including incorrect addresses, outdated information, evasive recipients, refusals to answer doors, security restrictions, condominium access restrictions, gated communities, apartment buildings, workplace access restrictions, institutional policies, hospital policies, correctional facility requirements, school policies, shelter restrictions, nursing home restrictions, safety concerns, and weather conditions.
Service fees are earned upon completion of service attempts and related work regardless of whether service is ultimately successful.
Additional attempts, investigations, stakeouts, waiting time, travel, or other services may result in additional fees.
Legal Services HQ reserves the right to suspend service attempts where safety concerns exist or where continued efforts are unlikely to result in successful service without additional instructions from the client.
14. Court Filing Services
While Legal Services HQ makes reasonable efforts to file documents accurately and on time, the client remains solely responsible for filing deadlines, document accuracy, court rule compliance, document completeness, proper execution of documents, monitoring court responses, and reviewing filed documents.
Legal Services HQ shall not be liable for rejected filings, court delays, court closures, registry delays, technology failures, filing platform outages, administrative errors by courts, or actions of third-party filing systems.
Clients are strongly encouraged to provide filing instructions well in advance of any applicable deadline.
15. Skip Tracing and Investigative Services
Skip tracing and investigative services are performed using information obtained from public records, commercial databases, government sources, corporate records, social media, property records, interviews, third-party information providers, and investigative efforts.
Legal Services HQ does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, currency, reliability, or availability of information.
Skip tracing results should be considered investigative leads only and should be independently verified by the client before reliance.
Legal Services HQ shall not be liable for decisions made by clients based upon skip tracing or investigative information.
No investigative service guarantees that an individual, asset, employer, property, telephone number, email address, or other information will be located.
16. Affidavits, Reports, and Service Documentation
Legal Services HQ may prepare affidavits, reports, declarations, service notes, exhibits, and supporting documentation based upon information collected during assignments.
Clients authorize Legal Services HQ to prepare such documents using information provided by process servers, investigators, contractors, employees, and other service providers.
While Legal Services HQ takes reasonable steps to ensure accuracy, clients remain responsible for reviewing documents before filing, use, or reliance.
Legal Services HQ shall not be responsible for errors resulting from inaccurate information provided by third parties, courts, clients, or witnesses.
17. Electronic Communications
The client consents to receiving communications electronically, including email, SMS messages, electronic invoices, electronic reports, electronic affidavits, electronic service updates, portal notifications, electronic payment requests, and electronic receipts.
Electronic communications shall be deemed received when transmitted by Legal Services HQ regardless of whether the client actually reviews, opens, receives, or acknowledges such communication.
The client is solely responsible for ensuring that their contact information remains current and accurate.
Legal Services HQ shall not be responsible for communications delayed, blocked, filtered, or otherwise impacted by internet providers, spam filters, telecommunications providers, or technology failures.
18. GPS, Photography, Audio, and Body Camera Evidence
Where legally permitted, Legal Services HQ may utilize GPS tracking, photography, audio recordings, body cameras, video recordings, screenshots, digital notes, and other evidence collection technologies.
Such information may be collected for proof of attendance, proof of service, quality assurance, internal training, dispute resolution, client reporting, court purposes, and risk management.
All recordings, photographs, GPS data, reports, notes, and related information remain the property of Legal Services HQ unless otherwise agreed in writing.
Legal Services HQ reserves the right to limit disclosure of raw recordings and data. Nothing in these Terms obligates Legal Services HQ to release body camera footage, audio recordings, photographs, or other evidence except where required by law or agreed to in writing.
19. Confidentiality
Legal Services HQ recognizes the confidential nature of client information and will take commercially reasonable measures to protect information provided by clients.
Clients acknowledge that information may be shared with employees, contractors, agents, affiliates, courts, government agencies, service providers, and technology providers where necessary to complete assignments.
Confidentiality obligations shall not apply to information that is publicly available, is independently obtained, must be disclosed by law, or must be disclosed pursuant to court order.
20. Privacy
The collection, use, storage, and disclosure of personal information by Legal Services HQ shall be governed by applicable privacy legislation.
Clients acknowledge that personal information may be collected, stored, processed, transmitted, and disclosed where necessary to provide services.
Clients warrant that they have obtained any required authority, consent, or legal basis necessary to provide personal information to Legal Services HQ.
21. Refund Policy
Because services often begin immediately upon assignment and resources are allocated upon acceptance, fees are generally non-refundable.
Refund requests may be reviewed on a case-by-case basis at the sole discretion of Legal Services HQ.
The following are generally non-refundable once incurred: court filing fees, government fees, search fees, mileage, travel expenses, printing costs, courier costs, stakeout fees, waiting time, third-party disbursements, and service attempts completed.
Approval of any refund request shall not create a precedent or obligation for future refunds.
22. No Guarantee of Results
Legal Services HQ does not guarantee successful service, location of any person, location of any asset, acceptance of any filing, court approval of any document, collection of any debt, recovery of any property, recovery of any funds, success of any legal proceeding, or any specific legal outcome.
Clients acknowledge that Legal Services HQ provides professional services only and does not guarantee results.
23. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Legal Services HQ's total liability arising from any claim, demand, action, proceeding, loss, damage, or expense shall not exceed the amount paid by the client for the specific assignment giving rise to the claim.
Under no circumstances shall Legal Services HQ be liable for lost profits, lost business opportunities, lost revenue, lost wages, consequential damages, indirect damages, special damages, incidental damages, punitive damages, exemplary damages, litigation outcomes, missed opportunities, reputation damage, or emotional distress.
The limitations contained in this section apply regardless of the legal theory asserted.
24. Indemnification
The client agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Legal Services HQ and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, affiliates, agents, successors, and assigns from and against any claims, demands, actions, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, expenses, fines, penalties, and legal fees arising from information provided by the client, instructions provided by the client, improper use of services, violation of applicable laws, breach of these Terms, or claims brought by third parties relating to the assignment.
This indemnification obligation shall survive termination of the relationship between the parties.
25. Force Majeure
Legal Services HQ shall not be liable for delays, interruptions, failures, or inability to perform caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control.
Such circumstances may include weather events, natural disasters, floods, fires, power outages, labour disruptions, court closures, government actions, public health emergencies, internet outages, technology failures, civil unrest, and transportation disruptions.
Performance shall be suspended for the duration of the force majeure event.
26. Suspension and Termination
Legal Services HQ may suspend, refuse, or terminate services at any time where invoices remain unpaid, fraud is suspected, false information is provided, client conduct is abusive, threatening, or inappropriate, continued service presents unreasonable risk, or the client violates these Terms.
Termination shall not relieve the client of obligations arising prior to termination. All amounts owing remain immediately due and payable.
27. Intellectual Property
All content, software, systems, forms, procedures, reports, templates, processes, databases, branding, trademarks, and materials developed or used by Legal Services HQ remain the exclusive property of Legal Services HQ unless otherwise agreed in writing.
Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of intellectual property to the client.
28. Governing Law
These Terms shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein.
29. Dispute Resolution
Before commencing legal proceedings, the parties agree to attempt to resolve disputes through good-faith discussions.
Any legal proceeding arising from these Terms or the services provided by Legal Services HQ shall be brought exclusively before the courts of Ontario.
The parties irrevocably attorn to the jurisdiction of the courts of Ontario.
30. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is determined to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
31. Entire Agreement
These Terms constitute the entire agreement between the parties and supersede all prior discussions, understandings, quotations, representations, and agreements relating to the services provided by Legal Services HQ.
No amendment shall be effective unless made in writing by Legal Services HQ.
32. Contact Information
Legal Services HQ can be reached by phone at +1 (613) 921- 3274 , by email at admin@legalserviceshq.ca , or through https://legalserviceshq.ca .
Questions regarding these Terms may be directed to Legal Services HQ using the contact information above.