Paralegal Regulation
The Law Society of Upper Canada has regulatory authority over licensed paralegals as well as members of the Bar.
A recent decision of the Hearing Division
Roland Spiegel is a paralegal who assisted clients who had been in motor vehicle accidents with health care benefit claims against insurance companies. The Law Society alleges that he has engaged in misconduct in his interactions with insurance companies on behalf of multiple clients, including by: filing misleading documents, altering standard forms, bombarding companies with lengthy fax transmissions, communicating inappropriately, filing multiple forms and claiming time for services he did not provide. It also says that he failed to co-operate in the investigation of his conduct.
Mr. Spiegel denies the allegations and says he acted properly. He emphasizes how difficult it is, in his view, for individuals to contest insurance company decisions, and the duty of utmost good faith that insurers have to the insured, which he suggests is usually not fulfilled. He takes the position that the matter is not properly before us since he was not acting as a paralegal when he worked with the clients. Rather, he says, he acted as an unregulated health-care provider. He says that in most cases, he was doing what lawyers with whom he worked instructed him to do. He says that the results of various other proceedings mean that this proceeding should be dismissed.
We find that Mr. Spiegel engaged in professional misconduct. He is wrong that he could make claims and legal submissions for clients without regulation by the Law Society by calling himself a health care provider. He was providing legal services. The other proceedings did not decide the key questions at the heart of this case.
The Law Society has proven that Mr. Spiegel was dishonest in his actions toward insurance companies. His “protocol” for representing clients included the use of misleading documents, among other things, by putting signatures and names of health practitioners and clients on statements that were not true. He filed multiple forms in an effort to inflate his own fees. He submitted clearly invalid documents and claimed for payment when he was not eligible to do so. He claimed for work he did not do. He exaggerated and misrepresented the claims of a client. He did not co-operate with the Law Society as required.
A paralegal or lawyer may be a zealous advocate, make novel arguments and use strategies designed to move the law forward on behalf of a client. Sometimes that involves looking for technical arguments or being dogged with the other side to get attention. While some of the allegations in the Notice of Application appeared to aim at such conduct, they have not led to findings of misconduct. The misconduct we find is based on dishonesty, manipulation of the SABS scheme, submission of invalid documents and failure to respond to the Law Society.
A penalty hearing will be scheduled.
In an unrelated matter, a Hearing Division denied a paralegal application. (Mike Frisch)