Welcome to Common Ground, a condo law practice with uncommon sense.

After almost 20 years of law practice, mostly serving condo corporations, I’ve learned a few things:

  • What condo managers, corporations and boards want from a law firm
  • How and when they need those things, and
  • What they do not want from a law firm.

Fact is, the way legal services are delivered hasn’t changed much in decades.

Many lawyers have good intentions to cover off risk. But bureaucracy and reluctance to adopt technology to better serve clients adds complexity and slows down the delivery of legal services.

In the meantime, condo managers’ and boards’ needs are changing. The pace is faster and more furious than ever before.  And the stakes could not be higher.

The birth of Common Ground

For a number of years, I saw (and heard) what my clients struggled with. I began to see opportunities to help them. And to deliver condo law in a whole new and uncommon way.

I envisioned a condo law firm that combines progressive thinking, technology – and the best of personal legal advice. A firm that:

  • Offered deep experience in condo law, pragmatic counsel – and exceptional individualized service
  • Delivered straightforward legal advice quickly, potentially avoiding painful and costly escalations
  • Leveraged technology to empower the client, reduce their stress and help control their legal spend

In January 2020, I launched Common Ground Condo Law with this vision in mind.

Our core values

In this industry, the relationships between all parties are deep and long-lasting. And for those involved in condo communities, they’re also highly personal.

Our vision is to help divided condominium communities find common ground, by delivering condo legal services that:

  • Support clients when and how they need it
  • Prevent or minimize divisive and costly disputes
  • Are practical, and grounded in uncommon sense.

Our core values govern how we serve you, our clients, every day.

Be available when our clients are available

Condo managers don’t work 9 to 5, and neither do we. That’s why we offer live phone reception from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekdays. Plus after-hours emergency manager support (ideally with notice). An online portal will provide 24/7 access to documents, updates and resources.

Use simple plain English always

Legalese creates confusion, in other words more stress. So whether it’s in our documents, written correspondence or coaching, we are committed to communicate with our clients clearly and in plain English.

Good legal advice upfront is worth its weight in gold

We designed our services so clients can get their legal questions answered quickly, potentially avoiding costly and painful disputes and escalations down the road.

Deliver service, service, service

We are committed to providing exceptional service that delights our clients. Here are our guiding beliefs:

  • Whenever possible, we resolve problems quickly
  • We provide just those services our clients truly need: no more, no less
  • We empower our clients through self-service technology
  • We actively listen, ask for input and learn from our mistakes
  • We serve clients above and beyond, and constantly seek ways to improve

We prioritize the practical over principled

We assess issues and risks realistically, proportionately and calmly. Instead of getting our clients mired in risk-averse legal details and over-caution, we make practical recommendations and suggest real options.

And while some disputes must be fought out to the conclusion for good reason, we believe that a dollar spent on settlement is often a better investment than a dollar spent on legal fees fighting a case.

If we’re not adding value – we don’t do it

We don’t believe in “overlawyering”. We use our legal knowledge find the simplest and best solution that gives clients real value. So we do what must be done. We add value at every step, or we delete the step.

Harness technology to make our clients’ lives easier

We recognize times are changing and the way everyone works is changing. We actively harness rapidly-advancing technologies to save time, shorten turnaround and reduce errors (and headaches) for our clients. It’s about freaking time.

Offer fees that are fair and transparent – no surprises

Too many condo costs are skyrocketing. And there’s nothing worse than surprise legal charges that weren’t disclosed up front.

We help clients control their legal spend with fee options, appropriate to a client’s needs. For example, we may charge hourly, flat-fee or subscription rates for commonly used, bundled services. We also assign the right person to the right job.

In every case, fees are discussed up front and agreed upon – no surprises.

These are some of the ways we deliver legal services with uncommon sense.

We’re a new firm that opened our doors in January 2020. It’s an exciting time for us, and we have plenty of innovations planned and in the works.

Curious to know how we’ll get it done?

Our vision into action – Here’s exactly how we plan to put Our Vision into action: the systems, the processes, the exceptional service that will make it happen.