We know that there is often a delay between when a lawyer provides services to a client and the rendering of an account for those services. Sometimes months can pass. Sometimes years. And we know that sometimes a lawyer will combine multiple but separate matters for a client into one omnibus account.
We also know that, on occasion, a client may decline to pay your account necessitating an application for a taxation.
We would remind you that the Limitations of Actions Act applies to your billing of services should you have the need to tax an account. If your account combines multiple subject matters or spans a lengthy period of time from when the work was done, in the absence of a written agreement or acknowledgement from the client, an interim billing delivered to the client, a contingency agreement, or something else evidencing the client’s consent to pay a long-deferred account, a Court may find that your application for a taxation of all or a portion of your account could be statute-barred.
To ensure that you maintain your right to be paid for the services you render, you are encouraged to follow the guidance set out in the Code of Professional Conduct, Chapter 3.6 Fees and Disbursements: https://nsbs.org/legal-profession/code-of-professional-conduct/chapter-3-relationship-to-clients/#85-36-fees-and-disbursements