We are not a law firm, nor do we charge like one; though we do have considerable legal experience among our many talents. Our philosophy is that Indigenous groups and industrial project proponents do not need their law firms to do the work we do. The kind of work we do is not adversarial. The bulk of our work comes after Indigenous rights holders are identified and project proponents have already acknowledged their obligation to work with potentially affected groups in their regulatory filings with Crown agencies .
From our experience, many Indigenous groups simply do not trust industry representatives when they come to their communities to seek support for their projects. If trust is the issue, a non-adversarial third party like Indigenous Advantage Inc. can help. We can work with either party (or both) to help build trust. We can simply do a lot more to positively advance projects than law firms can and for a whole lot less when you consider the amount of time it can take. Like any relationship, it doesn’t solidify over night.
In our opinion, “lawyering up” is not the answer in a non-adversarial situation, because it causes the other side to lawyer up also. Law firm expenses on both sides can add up fast, leaving both sides uncomfortable with each other. When the relationship becomes lawyer to lawyer, the actual people who need to relate to one another don’t really get to know each other. How can you build a meaningful, trustful and respectful relationship when you don’t really get to know each other? An independent, non-adversarial third party with knowledge of Indigenous needs and wants and knowledge of industry needs and wants and the values that both sides represent to each other is the obvious and clear choice here.