Coffee shop offers lattes with a side of legal advice
“The lawyers here wear jeans. We’re not intimidating.”
Lawyer Dale Barrett wanted to open a new firm where people could just walk in and feel at ease.
“The question then became: What’s the best atmosphere for that, what’s the most comfortable? Where are people going to feel the most at home?” he told the Star in a recent interview.
“And the idea came to put the law firm in a café.”
The result was Lawyers & Lattes. Located on Eglinton Ave. W. near Spadina Rd., the coffee shop/law firm celebrated its grand opening in November, offering people lattes with a side of legal assistance.
The menu of legal services on the establishment’s website includes a wide
range of items — everything from $99 for a purchase and sale agreement to $1,499 for family trusts. The shop also offers free legal advice the first Saturday of each month.
Barrett, who specializes in tax law, said there are generally one or two lawyers on-site. The firm also has a growing network of lawyers — about 50 so far — from various specialties who can be connected to an individual needing assistance, he said.
“Initially there were tons of lawyers coming through our doors asking how they could get involved, can they use our space, and we have some lawyers who are regulars who just come in and make their calls and have a coffee,” Barrett said.
He emphasized that the ultimate goal is for people to relax, mentioning that individuals seeking help don’t have to sit in the public part of the shop if they need legal assistance. (There’s private space at the back.)
“It’s going very well,” Barrett said of business, adding he hopes to expand in the near future. “We’re getting more and more walk-ins, more and more people who have heard about us on social media.”
He said the most popular service right now seems to be wills. The cost for a basic will at the firm is $349, which includes one hour of a lawyer’s time.
The shop also offers seminars, free of charge, every two weeks or so in the evening. Upcoming topics include drafting a will on Jan.10 and tenant rights on Jan. 24.
The seminars “are technical enough to impart the ideas that we need to get across, but not too technical that anyone wouldn’t be able to understand,” Barrett said. “And, of course, we welcome questions.”
He plans to add free LSAT seminars as well in the new year.
“We’re getting known, a lot of people are coming through, talking about us, and that’s what’s important,” Barrett said.