Sex And Loans

Sex with and a loan to a client in a domestic relations matter got a 2.5 month suspension of an attorney called to the Bar in 1997.

From the opinion of the Tribunal Hearing Division of the Upper Canada Law Society 

The Licensee was employed as an associate at a family law firm. During his employment with the firm, the Licensee acted for a female client for about a year. For about four months, starting from a few days after she retained him, the Licensee engaged in a secret consensual sexual relationship with Client A.

The client was a stay-at-home parent, financially dependent on her husband, with two children under the age of five. At the time, the husband was facing criminal charges relating to allegations that he had damaged her personal property.

About a month after she retained him, the matrimonial litigation deteriorated and became a high conflict matter. At that time, the client instructed the Licensee to file a motion for supervised access following an allegation of abuse. The father vehemently denied the allegations of physical assault.

After several months, the Licensee told the client that due to the high conflict nature of the matrimonial litigation, she had to choose between a professional or personal relationship with him. The client advised the Licensee that she could not afford to start afresh with a new lawyer. The sexual relationship between the Licensee and the client ended, but both parties still had feelings for each other and maintained a personal relationship.

The loans

After the sexual relationship ended, the Licensee loaned $60,000 to the client primarily to pay for legal fees and personal expenses. The Licensee characterized $10,000 of this amount as a gift. The client agreed to repay the remaining $50,000 once she received an equalization payment from the sale of the matrimonial home.

The Licensee did not properly document these transactions nor create a record confirming that the funds were in the nature of a loan and/or the terms of repayment. The client had acknowledged the debt in documentation presented to the court.

When the sale of the matrimonial home closed, more than $50,000 was released to the client. The Licensee requested the repayment of the $50,000 loan, but the client refused to reimburse the Licensee. 

There were “uncivil” texts over the loan

 when the client refused to repay the Licensee the money that he had loaned her, his conduct became antagonistic and intimidating. He implied that he would use confidential information to her detriment, which would have been a breach of the Rules of Professional Conduct had he done so. While the Licensee states that he had no intention of disclosing the confidential information, this aspect of his conduct raises serious concerns, since it shows his mixing of his personal relationship and professional duties. It shows why sexual relationships can run the risk of impairment of lawyers’ duties to their clients, because that impairment actually occurred in this case.

The attorney did not follow through on the threats but

Shortly after receiving these texts and the e-mail, the client reported the relationship and the communications to the Licensee’s employer. The employer met with the Licensee, and advised him of the allegations made by the client. The Licensee admitted to having had an inappropriate relationship with the client and that he had loaned her money. The Licensee was dismissed from his employment and his employer reported him to the Law Society.

His response was appropriate given the circumstances

In this case, there was no disclosure of confidential information. The Licensee showed considerable remorse for his actions and their broader repercussions. He expressed regret for his conduct and lack of judgment, including to the client and her children for putting them in a vulnerable position, to his former employer for betraying its trust, and to his current clients for the hardship that his suspension would cause them. Since the incident in 2013, the Licensee has sought counselling to obtain insight into his conduct, in order to address the situation. He committed to ensuring that he would never allow this to happen again.

(Mike Frisch)