Date of change: September 30, 2025
Disclosure to owners: None
🔍 What Happened
Without any announcement or owner notice, the Board terminated the previous law firm and hired a new one on September 30 – just days before the townhall. This is not a minor administrative update. It’s a major governance decision that directly affects the Corporation’s finances, legal exposure, and reputation.
Changing a law firm means replacing the team that represents the Corporation in court, handles compliance advice, manages collections, and interprets the Condominium Act on behalf of owners. It involves transferring confidential files, revising retainer terms, and approving new billing rates. Yet this Board did all of that behind closed doors and did not disclose it at the very townhall meant to inform owners about key updates.
Here it is in our September meeting minutes:
🧾 Why It Matters
When a new law firm is hired, owners pay for it. That includes onboarding, file transfer, hourly rates, and—most notably in this case – travel time. The new firm is based in Vaughan, roughly 100 kilometres from our community. That means we now pay for every kilometre, every hour on the highway, and every minute spent in traffic when their lawyers attend meetings or the AGM.
There is no logical reason for a Waterloo condominium to retain a law firm located that far away – especially when several qualified local firms operate right here in Kitchener-Waterloo. Choosing an out-of-town firm not only increases cost, but also raises the question: who recommended them, and why?
🚨 The Transparency Problem
The Board had multiple opportunities to disclose this change:
During the September townhall, where they discussed legal and financial matters.
They chose silence.
This is part of a larger pattern – making decisions that carry financial and legal consequences for owners without notice or consultation, and then pretending transparency exists because “anyone can ask questions.”
But transparency is not reactive. It’s proactive. And a Board that hides something as simple and fundamental as a change of counsel sends a clear message: they believe owners don’t need to know.
💰 What This Means for Owners
Let’s be clear:
- You will pay for this new firm’s travel, hourly rates, and administrative costs.
- You were not told or consulted.
- You were not given an opportunity to ask why the change was made.
- You were not informed whether the previous firm raised concerns, resigned, or was replaced for cause.
These are our corporation’s legal affairs – funded by our common expenses – being handled by people we didn’t choose and weren’t told about.
⚠️ The Bigger Picture
A board that treats owners like inconveniences instead of stakeholders will always act this way.
Today it’s a secret law firm switch.
Tomorrow it’s a new management contract, a six-figure legal bill, or another “emergency” special assessment.
The pattern is clear:
Silence. Concealment. Cost.
❓ Ask Yourself
If a board hides something as basic as who represents our corporation,
what else are they hiding?
Is this the Board you want managing your money, your property, and your rights?
