Suzanne Clément

The Law Society Tribunal held a penalty and costs hearing after finding the respondent lawyer engaged in professional misconduct.

The lawyer had acted dishonestly in family law litigation by using a disputed foreign divorce to remove a matrimonial home designation, assisting his client in defeating court orders, and misleading the court and opposing counsel.

The Tribunal determined that while presumptive revocation did not apply, the ordinary penalty analysis required revocation due to the serious and calculated nature of the dishonesty, which undermined public confidence in the profession.

The Tribunal declined to impose an additional fine but ordered the lawyer to pay $50,000 in costs.

The applicant's licence to practise law was retroactively revoked after the Tribunal found he made deliberately false and misleading statements regarding a prior criminal conviction on his application.

In this costs decision, the Law Society sought $25,000, while the applicant sought costs against the Law Society.

The Tribunal ordered the applicant to pay $12,500 in costs, noting his deliberate deception caused the Law Society to expend considerable effort and that he had no reasonable chance of success.

The Law Society alleged that the respondent paralegal engaged in professional misconduct by fabricating a client's signature on an affidavit, improperly commissioning it in her absence, and misleading the court by relying on it.

The paralegal admitted to the misconduct via an agreed statement of facts.

The Tribunal found the allegations substantiated.

Weighing mitigating factors including the paralegal's lack of discipline history, cooperation, and pro bono representation of the client against the serious nature of the integrity breach, the Tribunal ordered a three-month suspension and $4,000 in costs.

The appellant lawyer appealed a penalty decision that revoked his licence and ordered him to pay $44,135 in costs after a hearing panel found he had misappropriated trust funds and breached Legal Aid Ontario rules by privately billing a client while on a certificate.

The Law Society Tribunal Appeal Division dismissed the appeal, finding no error in principle in the hearing panel's application of the presumptive penalty of revocation for misappropriation.

The panel also found no procedural unfairness and upheld the costs order.

The Law Society of Ontario brought a conduct application against the Licensee for misappropriating over $12 million in client trust funds across 13 real estate matters.

The Licensee admitted to falsifying trust records, breaching undertakings, and using client funds to pay personal and business expenses, including those of her husband's class action practice.

The Tribunal found the Licensee engaged in professional misconduct by failing to act with honour and integrity.

Applying the presumptive penalty for misappropriation, the Tribunal revoked the Licensee's licence, ordered restitution to the Compensation Fund, and awarded $100,000 in costs to the Law Society.

The Applicant applied for a licence to practise law in 2019 and was licensed in 2021.

The Law Society subsequently discovered that the Applicant had been convicted of a felony offence in Michigan in 2017 and had failed to disclose this conviction and the resulting sanctions on his licensing application.

The Tribunal found that the Applicant deliberately made false or misleading statements in his application, knowing they were false or misleading, or was reckless or willfully blind to their truth.

The application for licensing was dismissed and the Applicant's licence was retroactively revoked.