Nothing — until it’s tested. Templates are drafted for a generic deal, often for another jurisdiction, and Ontario courts routinely refuse to enforce off-the-shelf termination clauses, non-competes, and liability waivers that weren’t drafted to Ontario law. A template that fails when challenged costs far more than a custom contract ever would. The honest answer: a template is fine for a deal you can afford to lose.

Service and master service agreements, client terms of engagement, supplier and distribution agreements, licensing, joint ventures and partnerships, commercial leases, employment and contractor agreements, NDAs, and purchase agreements for buying or selling a business. If your company signs it, it’s in scope — and if a matter genuinely needs a specialist, I’ll say so and manage them.

Yes — and it’s some of the most valuable work in the practice, because the paper someone else drafted protects them, not you. You’ll get a plain-language explanation of what the agreement actually says, which terms are unusual or dangerous, and what to push back on before signing. Review comes with a written fee estimate up front, so a “quick look” never becomes a surprise invoice.

It depends on the complexity of the deal, which is why every engagement starts with a written fee estimate rather than a generic price — you’ll know the exact cost before drafting begins. A well-built master agreement is also reusable: it becomes the paper for every future client or supplier, which typically makes it one of the cheapest pieces of infrastructure a business buys.

No. Barbarian Law runs specific retainers, not evergreen retainers: a written fee estimate before the engagement starts, and an invoice after the work is delivered. No deposit into trust, no top-ups — your working capital stays in your business.

Yes — asset purchases, share purchases, due diligence, vendor financing, and closing, for both buyers and sellers. Deal structure has major tax consequences (a share sale may qualify for the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption, for example), so the structuring conversation should happen before the letter of intent, not after.

That’s what the fractional general counsel engagement is for: standing counsel on a monthly basis covering contract drafting, review, and the day-to-day legal questions in between — with the same specific-retainer billing. Many commercial clients start with a single contract and move to standing counsel once the volume justifies it.

Barbarian Law is a transactional firm and does not litigate — deliberately, because most contract disputes are cheaper to negotiate than to fight, and the best dispute strategy is a contract drafted so the fight never starts. Where a matter genuinely requires court, I select, brief, and manage litigation counsel and review their bills, so the file is run in your interest.