How do I find a good lawyer and how do I take my case to small claims court in Kelowna, BC?

[wethrby]

I am leasing a new vehicle. The dealership I am leasing from requires the vehicle to be inspected before it is returned. Their own inspector found damage on my vehicle that had been painted over. I have never been in an accident or had any body work done to my vehicle, meaning this is previous damage that I was unaware of prior to me leasing it.

I have gone to consumer protection and have tried to deal with the dealership directly however, I feel I will need a lawyer and also need to go to small claims court.

I live in Kelowna, BC Canada.
I need to know where to go to find a lawyer that will be paid on a commission basis as I cannot afford one right now. I also need to know how to go about taking this case to small claims court.

[cadby]

http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/small_claims/index.htm

Per the Attorney General of British Columbia, you may not use a lawyer in Small Claims court, nor may they. Yet they CAN contest it and demand counsel, which will remand the case to a higher court.

For assistance in filing your case please see the above link and https://eservice.ag.gov.bc.ca/FilingAssistant/index.do where it will help you file a small claims court case.

Good luck to you. (I can not advise you on how to retain counsel as that is a direct violation of my attorney practice certificate in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. Maybe a full attorney or someone else could point you in the direction needed for a contingency based attorney.)

[jolie]

There is a lot of good in this world and a lot of lawyers but...................I'm not sure I would say there is such a thing as good lawyer. Either rely on word of mouth or cold call from the yellow pages.

[favian]

did you secure a copy of the vehicle inspection report before you left the dealer ship. you have a right to inspect it your self with the salesperson at hand. note any damage on the form have him sign it and keep a copy. The last time a rented i film the car with my cell camera with the agreement of the sale man in the video.

[lamarr3]

Unfortunately, you will not be able to find a lawyer willing to take on a small claims case on a contingency basis. The reason being is that the expenses that the lawyer will have to pay will probably be greater than the amount recovered. The court costs, expert reports, and other document costs can easily be more than what you get back, and if you don't win your case, the lawyer would have paid thousands of dollars from their pocket, and you would have to pay them for the expenses.

Most contingency fees amount to 33 1/3% of the amount recovered PLUS the cost of actual expenses paid (disbursements).

Small claims cases are designed for Plaintiffs to not have lawyers. In order to win the case, you will have to prove that the dealership knowingly provided you with a defective vehicle. They will argue that you should have had it inspected prior to taking possession of it (probably in the small print of your lease agreement, as it is pretty standard). Because of these two reasons, you will not be able to win the argument.