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By Michael Frisch

From the excellent web page of the Ontario Law Society

Mr. Widz was convicted of assaulting his partner and admitted another incident of assault against his partner causing physical injury. He requested that the application be dismissed and converted to an ITA because of his remorse, rehabilitation and mitigating circumstances. The panel dismissed the motion and made a finding of conduct unbecoming, imposing a one-month suspension and ordering $3,000 in costs, reasoning that an application can only be converted into an ITA in exceptional circumstances once professional misconduct or conduct unbecoming has been found. This was not the case here, as gender-based violence causing emotional and physical injuries is very serious and conflicts with the duty of lawyers and paralegals to respect equality. Such behaviour is entirely unacceptable and the panel decided that the Tribunal must convey this view to the public and the professions. The panel found that Mr. Widz’s evidence of rehabilitation (such as counselling) did not overcome the seriousness of the conduct.

The findings are linked here

The respondent was called to the Bar in 2019. In October of that year, he and AB met through an online dating service. It was not a healthy relationship. On June 2, 2020, Mr. Widz was charged with two counts of assaulting AB. He was released that day on an undertaking not to communicate with AB, and he has not done so, directly or indirectly, since then. In succeeding months, AB sent him several threatening messages, and she made a written statement to the police that resulted in the laying of six additional assault charges on August 12, 2020.

…On March 18, 2020, AB was on the respondent’s bed when they got into an argument. He grabbed her by the feet and pulled her off the bed. AB fell, hit her head on the low bed frame, and suffered a significant cut to the back of her head. Mr. Widz was sorry and immediately took her to a hospital where she received several staples to her head. At the hospital, AB lied about the cause of her injuries and did not disclose that she had been assaulted. She did not believe that the respondent intended to hurt her, and this was the first time he had been violent towards her.

Over the next few months, Mr. Widz and AB continued to have difficulties in their relationship. On May 24, 2020, they were en route to a camp site. AB criticized his driving, and a verbal altercation ensued. The respondent slapped AB’s bare leg twice and caused a bruise. He then apologized to AB.
Mitigation
 
Mr. Widz has strong support from his family and is highly regarded in his professional life for the manner in which he deals with female colleagues. The respondent has taken private counselling and a partner assault program that have permitted him to develop coping strategies. The Law Society accepts that the likelihood of recurrence in the respondent’s case is remote. Mr. Widz has shown remorse, even though an undercurrent continues in the position he presented to us and in his family’s support letters to assign some blame to AB for what happened.

(Mike Frisch)

Posted in:
Bar Discipline & Process