Cowan & Carter - Barrie, Ontario

Carol G.

Always a pleasure, 100% satisfied with the service received. I needed it done as quickly as possible and that's exactly what I got. I would absolutely recommend Cowan & Carter to anyone looking for legal services THANK YOU Nick and Dana.
Carol G

Danial Y.

It is always a pleasure to work with Nick Tenev. As a paralegal, whenever I need to reach out to him or refer a client, he is consistently responsive, highly knowledgeable, and incredibly helpful. I truly appreciate his professionalism and expertise. I would highly recommend Nick to anyone in need of a skilled and reliable litigation lawyer.

James S.

Super sketchy. Took 2 weeks to get the “associate” on the phone to pick up our will. Turns out there is only one lawyer at this location. Wouldn’t let my very elderly mother have witnesses sitting with her while they talked to her. Not sure if intimidating elderly is intentional or not. Seems like a pop up. Definitely would not come here again.

- Post edit -
Nick had called me to see how he can improve for the future. We gave feedback on some things he can do to improve his approach, especially to the elderly. It is clear that his call was just to get us to change our review but not change his behaviour.

As a follow-up nearly a year later, which he has just written below in response, he is still trying to excuse his deplorable approach by saying it was a misunderstanding.

We went to 2 other law firms after his since we were trying the very painful process of tracking down the most recent copy of our grandmother's will (it turned out that Nick didn't even have the most recent one). Both of the other firms were quite approachable and lovely to speak with. They told us that my mom could come in an pick up the will if she showed ID at the front. Expecting a similar back room interrigation like Nick put my mom through, we asked if we needed to talk to their lawyer. Their response was "to have the executor pick up the will that has their name on it? not at all."

The difference between these other 2 firms and Nick's is that they wanted to make the process as stress-free for their clients as possible. It's a testament that they are established firms in the community that know that relationships are built on approachability and sensitivity during tough times. Not coming into the room that they have been making you waiting in like they are Billy Big Wheels. I would have preferred Nick had taken our feedback (which I notice is similar to feedback in some of his other reviews that he hassled to get them to change), made changes to improve his services and moved on. We tried to help him by spending some good time trying to help him understand how our meeting with him went so far off the rails. He kept talking in circles with his only focus to remove the review.

Rather than working on softening his approach and taking accountability, he is doubling down, putting it on us like abusive behaviour is somehow a misunderstanding in his written follow-up below.

Maybe some point in the future when he finally looks in the mirror and acknowledges that it might be him, not the clients that are problem, he might be a better fit for elderly clients.

But for now, I suggest going with one of the many other wonderful firms in the area. It's not worth the stress. It's not worth a lawyer trying to feed their ego by being intimidating.

Luana J.

We have dealt with this legal firm many times over several years. We have always had a great experience. The staff are very helpful, and everyone including our lawyer is responsive and has made all our transactions go easily and smoothly. Thanks to the team for answering all our questions and for making us feel so comfortable by explaining everything. I would highly recommend Cowan and Carter - Nick Tenev to look after your legal needs.

Kyla S.

Our family has used this firm for seven real estate transactions. In every occasion Nick has gone over and above what was required, was very accessible and I would go so far as to say he even made it a bit fun. The fees are reasonable and his team is extremely friendly. I would have no troubles recommending Cowan and Carter and will return for the next deal.

Kasandra B.

**Edit - After posting my review, the owner of Cowan and Carter (Nick) reached out to me directly to discuss my concerns. I can say, that this conversation was genuine/authentic and I very much appreciated the follow up/discussion. While my experience wasn't great during my real estate transaction, Nick certainly put his best effort forward in order to modify the outcome of my experience.

I am unclear as to why this law firm carries such high regard by those who have reviewed or why our broker spoke so highly of them. My experience was completely different than the reviews posted here and at this point, I’d almost think they were bought or only added based on some sort of incentive. We bought our house in July and with Covid rearing it’s ugly head still; everything was digital. Our one and only appointment online with Monica was curt, rushed and almost unprofessional. It was clear we were just a walking dollar sign or transaction. Perhaps she was busy, unsure. But, I’d recommend limiting your client intake if you aren’t able to provide top tier customer service. Cowan and Carter did not request an arrears certificate and as such, arrears from the previous owners water account were transferred to our property tax account. Was I also supposed to request that certificate? I’m certain that’s the responsibility of the lawyer. Since lawyers don’t contact utilities (for the most part) it would seem that the easy route is to get an arrears certificate and not just rely on title insurance. When I say I sent several emails trying to sort this out (almost all were not responded to), it’s not an embellishment. It’s clear our services with Cowan and Carter ended when our transaction closed. Monica did not reply and I ended up submitting a title insurance claim myself. A paralegal eventually responded when I questioned their business and professionalism, but haven’t heard from them since. They provided us the incorrect code to get our house key on the day of closing. They were unavailable and we were essentially stuck in our driveway. We had to contact our realtor, who reached out to the sellers agent, just so we could get access. I do not recommend using this lawyer, unless you want an expensive subpar experience, where you take care of red tape yourself. If it was possible to not even give a ‘star’ on this review, I would. 0/10. Do yourself a favour, if you’re considering using Cowan & Carter, look elsewhere.

Marcia A. N.

We worked with Nick and his team on a recent real estate transaction. The entire experience was pleasant and professional. His team is courteous and responsive. Nick was flexible with the meeting time to accommodate us which we appreciated. He explained the process well, answered all our questions patiently, and overall made us feel comfortable.

Samantha S.

Our experience with Nick and his team was really great. He is very knowledgeable, professional and always flexible in terms of meeting times. He also made sure we had a good understanding of everything we were doing and was available to answer any questions we had about the process. Would definitely recommend and will use him again in the future!