Color Blindness And More

A Hearing Committee Report of the Alberta Law Society found misconduct in an attorney’s representation of a vulnerable client in a contested family matter

    Following his retainment, Mr. Damen engaged in non-lawyer related matters with [X.Y.] as follows:

(a)  At the initial meeting, Mr. Damen paid [X.Y.] a compliment about her hair colour. At this same meeting, Mr. Damen, due to his colour blindness, “hired” [X.Y.] to attend at his home to pair his suits with his shirts and ties. [X.Y.] attended at Mr. Damen’s home on December 21, 2019. Mr. Damen answered the door in jeans and slippers, without his shirt, since he had not finished dressing, but did not want to leave [X.Y.] in the cold. The visit ended with an intimate encounter involving kissing and touching, which was initiated by Mr. Damen.

(b)  After this initial encounter on December 21, 2019, Mr. Damen and [X.Y.] engaged in a personal relationship for about two weeks. This included intimate and personal text messages and other forms of communication such as Facetime and telephone calls.

(c)   On December 30, 2019, [X.Y.] offered to sell Mr. Damen her vehicle and he agreed. Mr. Damen provided [X.Y.] with Kijiji postings in support of the purchase price, but he did not retain any of those records.

(d)  [X.Y.] in her complaint indicated that she participated in the personal relationship since she was worried that Mr. Damen would stop providing legal services. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Mr. Damen in fact stopped working on [X.Y.]’s file or that the relationship was other than consensual.

Sanction

(a)  Mr. Damen will attend and complete a three-day “Professional Boundaries and Ethics” course offered by PBI Education, at the sole expense of Mr. Damen, such course to be completed by June 30, 2022;

(b)  A reprimand, which is produced herein; and

(c)   Mr. Damen is to pay $12,731.25 in costs, such amount to be paid within twelve months.

(Mike Frisch)