Aird & Berlis LLP Review

Big thanks to the CEO John Longos, and the top tax lawyers in the country- Neil Bass and Angelo Gentile who resolved my tax issue.

CRA Tax Issue.

We tried out 5 different law firms before coming to Aird & Berlis for an unfortunate tax issue with the CRA. Our first appointment was with Neil Bass and Angelo Gentile. I was very surprised to find that both of them were taking notes during our first discussion where I explained our issues to them. By the end of the meeting, they understood our situation as clearly as my wife and I did. From 5 prior law firms, we decided to hire Neil Bass and Angelo Gentile immediately after our first discussion with them. We found that Neil would answer our calls and emails all the time consistently, and would articulate his explanations to us very clearly and thoroughly. We spoke with both of them, though we dealt with Angelo Gentile specifically. He was a very honest and responsible individual-something that was made clear just in the way he spoke. He genuinely feels bad for his clients when they are in the right, and does his best to work with them to make the situation better. It is very evident to me that he looks to actually help his clients and improve their lives as best as he can. I would recommend anyone in this country to come to this firm if you have a legal tax issue. Our experience was nothing short of incredible, and I can confidently say that Angelo is the most honest, fair, hardworking, and professional lawyer I have dealt with.

Here s an idea: proof-read and spell check your Notice Of Copyright Infringements before sending them to ISPs.

Anyone who reads the news (especially CBC) knows you have no credibility anyhow, but seriously, if you re a law firm, maybe have someone read the dribble you send out. Ridiculous spelling errors and grammar errors are often indicative of foreign phishing/internet scams.

If you can t afford even an intern, or perhaps a high-school co-op student to read over your legal notices, try putting them into a Word Document or using Pages on a Mac. And if that s too much for your budget, you can always use a peer-to-peer client to download a pirated copy of the software. Although you risk getting a jumbled up Notice of Copyright Infringement if you get caught.....

Have been working with Faruk Gafic and Andrew Magnus from AB for a little over a year. They helped me with my lease, and drafted a bunch of paperwork for my business (terms/conditions, employee agreements, etc.). They have always been great to work with - fast, thorough and good communicators. But I am leaving this review today because they came to the rescue on a potential legal issue, and their speediness and quality of work truly impressed me. Highly recommend them and their firm!

We retained Jack Bernstein at Aird Berlis in regards to family shares held in Europe and the implementation for Canadian tax purposes.

On June 18 2018 he replied to my initial request by email. The wrong engagement file was attached however and I received two pages of legal advice "private and confidential" directed at a certain "person x" living in Europe. That did not boost my confidence but I went ahead anyways so it was noted by me to mister Bernstein and he send me the correct file. He stated 1400cad/h would be his rate and he'd be able to answer all my questions during a call.

Two weeks later, the call took place and lasted 20min(I know since I kept a recording for my reference). Most of my questions where answered. Then the invoice (s)? followed.

Invoice one was for the amount of 2816.63cad. There where no details on the invoice. This felt steep for a 20min call but I paid since I figured they added some extra's for setting up the call etc.

Much to my surprise a month later invoice two arrived. This was for the amount of 1470cad. Again it had no details on it so I emailed to inform what the invoice was for since no further advice was requested. Their answer was "legal research leading up to the call from one and a half month ago". Even though they did not inform me about this up front nor after I paid up to avoid trouble and asked to stop the engagement. No reply was given.

Another month later I received another invoice for the amount of +-500cad. This was it for me so I considered legal action and left an upset voice mail since they where not picking up the phone. They replied to me by email saying "you can discard the invoice, it was an accounting mistake". After this I explicitly asked them to deactivate my account and they finally did. I did not receive any further invoices.

One would assume that when someone charges 1400cad/h + extras they would have their stuff together. This did not seem to be the case to me and it felt like they where sending random invoices as long as we'd let them.

Another note; invoices without any details are against lawyer's ethics and a red flag. Unfortunately not illegal though.

They are crock and ripping people off Stay away from them

Had the pleasure of working with Neil Bass and Angelo Gentile. Absolutely amazing individuals; very hard working and extremely committed. Had an amazing experience and would recommend this firm to anyone.