COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO
RE:
THE LAW SOCIETY OF UPPER CANADA (Applicant/ Respondent) –and– LEE EDWARD FINGOLD (Respondent/Appellant)
BEFORE:
LABROSSE, MOLDAVER and GILLESE JJ.A.
COUNSEL:
Lee Edward Fingold
the appellant in person
Dennis J. Reeve
for the respondent
HEARD AND ENDORSED:
January 21, 2004
On appeal from the judgment of Justice Robert F.B. Scott of the Superior Court of Justice dated March 1, 2002.
A P P E A L B O O K E N D O R S E M E N T
1The appellant was found in contempt of a consent court order prohibiting him from “acting, holding himself out as, representing himself or practicing as a barrister or solicitor.”
2The appellant was disbarred by the Law Society specifically for the misappropriation of funds in the context of his real estate practice.
3The appellant admits that he closes real estate deals and offers services in the areas of wills, real estate and incorporation.
4There was ample evidence before Scott J. that the appellant was acting for and representing vendors and/or purchasers in real estate transactions, he was advising clients as to their rights and obligations under the law and preparing documents pertaining to legal rights and thereby acted and practiced as a solicitor. There was also evidence that the was acting for both the purchaser and vendor in the same transaction and submitted a fraudulent document upon closing of a transaction.
5The appellant was properly found in contempt. The appeal is dismissed with costs fixed at $3,000.00.
6Order to go for payment out of the monies paid into court as security for costs, to the Law Society of Upper Canada.