PRE-READING (10 minutes)
Solo Practice Setup Guide
Everything you need to have in place before your first mandate, from Law Society status to invoicing and tax registration.
Before you can start your Goodlawyer mandate, there are a few things you'll need in place. We've split this into what your law society requires before you can practice, and what Goodlawyer needs to invoice clients and pay you.
Plan for 3 weeks. Most lawyers get this entire list in place in up to 3 weeks. A few items — like getting law society approval to practice as a solo — take longer than you'd expect, so start early. The rest you can knock out in an afternoon.
This guide should not be considered legal or accounting advice.
Before You Can Practice
There are six things you need in place before you take on client work through Goodlawyer:
1. Active Practicing Status
An active status with a Canadian law society, in good standing. Any administrative suspensions or non-practising statuses must be rectified before starting a new mandate.
2. Professional Liability Insurance
Mandatory coverage through your home jurisdiction's program. You can also carry additional excess coverage at your discretion.
- Alberta — ALIA indemnity coverage →
- Ontario — LAWPRO, starting a new solo firm →
- British Columbia — LIF indemnity coverage application →
- Other provinces — See your law society's equivalent program
3. Sole Proprietorship or Professional Corporation
Two options. Sole proprietor is the simplest path — if you practice under your own legal name, no registration is required beyond setting up tax and banking. A professional corporation requires more setup and is typically better for tax planning, but a PC needs approval from your law society before you can practice through it. Plan for a few weeks of lead time.
- Alberta — Professional Corporation permit →
- Ontario — Certificate of Authorization (Part B) →
- British Columbia — Law Corporation Permit →
You can start as a sole proprietor and transition to a PC later.
4. Trust Account Exemption
Goodlawyer mandates are fixed-fee in-house work — client funds never move through your account, so you don't need a trust account. Confirm your trust account status with your law society before setting up your professional corporation, since this is part of getting your firm approved to practice.
- Alberta — Application for Exemption (Trust Safety)
- Ontario — see By-Law 9, which governs trust accounting; lawyers who don't open a trust account report this through their LSO Annual Report
- British Columbia — see the Law Society Rules (Division 7 – Trust Accounts) and Trust Reports; practising lawyers without a trust account complete Section A and the Schedule 2 annual practice declaration
5. Conflict Check System
Goodlawyer isn't a law firm, so running conflict checks is your professional obligation under your law society's code of conduct. Flag any conflicts to us early in the sales process, before a client proposal goes out, so we can pivot if needed.
6. Practice Tools
Day-to-day software for client work (MS Office or Google Workspace, contract drafting, and similar). Most clients onboard you into their own suite, and sometimes provide a company laptop. For contract drafting specifically, either your client buys the tool or you do, depending on the engagement. Goodlawyer has partner rates for Spellbook and Thomson Reuters — please inquire!
Without a trust account, standard accounting tools like QuickBooks Online or Xero work fine. If you maintain a trust account elsewhere, your law society may require specific practice management software — check before choosing your tool.
Before You Can Get Paid
You’ll need to have a few different accounts set up.
Goodlawyer invoices the client, collects taxes on both our service fee and your legal fees, and pays you out. You don't handle the tax math or invoicing, but you are responsible for remitting your taxes to the government.
1. GST/HST account
Required for every Goodlawyer mandate. Register through the CRA's Business Registration Online (BRO) — it's free and takes about 15 minutes. If you later transition from sole proprietor to PC, register a new GST/HST account under the corporation and let us know.
2. Provincial tax account
Only if you're in BC, QC, SK, or MB. A provincial tax account is only required if your practice is based in one of the four provinces with their own sales tax. If you're in Alberta, Ontario, or any other province, you don't need one — GST or HST handles it.
Province | Tax | When it's required | Link |
British Columbia | PST | Required for any lawyer providing legal services in BC. No small-seller exemption — register from day one. | |
Saskatchewan | PST | Required once taxable sales exceed $10,000 in a 12-month period. | |
Manitoba | RST | Required once taxable sales exceed $10,000 in a 12-month period. | |
Quebec | QST | Required once worldwide taxable revenue exceeds $30,000 in any 12-month period. |
3. Bank account for payouts
From the Goodlawyer portal in your Account Settings, create a secure Stripe account and enter banking info so we can deposit your legal fees. If your dedicated practice account isn't ready yet, use any available bank account to start and update it later.