Zain Ali
Zain Ali, Barrister and Solicitor, Notary Public
I am Syed Zain Ali, an Ontario lawyer practising in Mississauga, and Notary By Lawyer is the name under which I provide notarial and commissioning services across Peel Region and the GTA. I hold a Class L1 licence from the Law Society of Ontario, Law Society Number 79231O, which any client can verify directly in the LSO’s public directory at lsodirectory.lso.ca. As a licensed lawyer I am, by law, both a notary public and a commissioner for taking affidavits throughout Ontario.
Background and training
Juris Doctor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Called to the Ontario bar in 2020 after completing a Juris Doctor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University. Prior to law, I completed a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration at the University of Saskatchewan. The combination of a science background, business training and legal practice shapes how I approach document work: methodically, with attention to what the receiving institution actually needs. Along the way I noticed how often ordinary people were poorly served at both ends of the notary market, and made careful, fairly priced notarial work a deliberate part of my practice rather than an afterthought.
How I work
Documents carry consequences, and the people signing them deserve to understand what those are. So I explain before I stamp. Clients hear what the jurat means, why the exhibit gets marked, what an apostille will and will not do, in ordinary language, without a meter running on the explanation. Where I spot a defect, a date that contradicts the ID, a clause that will fail at the land registry abroad, I say so before the seal goes on, because fixing paper is cheap and fixing consequences is not.
Regulation and accountability
Every service on this site is provided subject to the Law Society of Ontario’s rules of professional conduct, its insurance requirements and its complaints process. That framework is the real difference between a lawyer’s seal and a stamp from a counter service: if something is ever wrong with my work, there is a regulator you can call and a professional obligation on me to fix it.
Outside the office
Outside the office I spend time on the water when the Ontario summer allows it, and I read widely across law, history and science. I grew up between cultures and find that the mix of clients this practice brings, new Canadians, long-time residents, business owners, families navigating paperwork in a language that is not their first, is one of its best features.
Why notarial work, of all things?
Because it is where ordinary people actually meet the legal system. Most clients in a notary’s chair are not in a dispute; they are sponsoring a parent, selling a family property abroad, sending a child to visit grandparents, proving to some institution that they are who they say they are. The stakes are personal and the fixes are simple when someone competent pays attention early. I find that satisfying in a way large files never quite matched, and it is why this part of my practice has a name, a website and posted prices instead of being an afterthought billed in six-minute increments.
What you can verify about me before booking
Three checks, all public. My licence status and any discipline history in the Law Society of Ontario directory under number 79231O. My mandatory professional liability insurance, which every practising Ontario lawyer carries. And this site’s posted fees, which match the invoice. Trust in this business should be verifiable, not vibes.