Dawson Mullin Law

We found Dawson Mullin Law to be UNTRUSTWORTHY, DISHONEST AND UNPROFESSIONAL.

TLDR (The Long Done Right):

We chose them over two other lawyers because they offered us a package deal to represent us in both the sale of a house, and the purchase of a condo. In the end they overcharged us with about $1150 of hidden, unquoted fees. They then tried to gaslight us into believing that it wasn't a mistake and ignored our requests for reimbursement. The process dragged on for months.

We are extremely surprised that there aren't more negative reviews for them, as by their response, it is likely that they have done this to many other clients. We have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, and with their governing body The Law Society of British Columbia regarding this.

For those of you interested in the detailed version:

We chose Dawson Mullin Law over two other lawyers because they offered us a deal to represent us in both the sale of the house, and the purchase of the condo (April 21, 2024). Their original quote was: $795 + $150 disbursements (house sale), $950 + ~$300 disbursements (purchase) + taxes, which is a total of $2195 + taxes:

"Thanks for the message. Pleased to assist with your sale and purchase transactions. I’ll do a reduced rate of 795 on the sale and 950 on the purchase with mortgage, plus applicable taxes/disbursements (which) varies slightly depending on mortgage requirements but typical disbursement cost on the sale is around 150 and closer to 300 on the purchase/mortgage".

The final charges were a total of $3223 + taxes charged. This was $1028 + taxes higher than original quote, with no explanation for the difference from the quote given: (UNTRUSTWORTHY on their part)

$895 + $403 disbursements + $199 software fee + taxes (sale), $995 + $532 disbursements + $199 software fee + taxes (purchase) + taxes.

We followed up multiple times starting on June 18, 2024 about overcharges, finally heard back a month later on Jul 21, 2024 with an explanation.

The explanation for the extra charges was: "You would have incurred the same disbursement cost or more at any other firm", "As to the Dye and Durham fee – there is nothing I can do about this – this a transaction cost which does not form part of legal fees or disbursements and again a fee you would incur at any other law firm or notary office that completed your transaction.".

After looking into this, we found that it is incorrect that we would have incurred the same cost at another firm. Quotes from other places were not this high. Many other firms would not have charged this software fee. Our previous condo purchase with SIHOTA & STARKEY (totalling $1087.17) did not have this fee. It is a choice on Dawson Mullin Laws part to use this software. There are other, cheaper options available, and as professionals, they would be aware of that. Either way, these fees should have been quoted up front, so that we could have made an informed decision. (DISHONEST on their part).

After 12 written requests, we finally received partial reimbursement of $295 months later on Aug 19, 2024. The rest is outstanding. (UNPROFESSIONAL on their part)

We wish we had not chosen them, hopefully this information will help you avoid the same mistake we did.