Hair Apparent

An attorney admitted in 1973 who has no prior discipline has been granted permission to surrender his license.

In a client’s criminal case

•           Never advised Client A of Crown resolution offers.

•           Was not prepared for the first day of the scheduled trial and made a false claim that he believed the matter was to proceed as a preliminary inquiry.

•           Deliberately chose to ignore billing and record-keeping requirements of the Law Society, having “no honest reason for doing so.”

•           Brought a stay application without Client A’s instructions, that “no competent lawyer” would have brought, which caused significant delay.

•           Called a witness, who had a history of abusing Client A, that no “competent lawyer” would have called.

•           Did not advise Client A about whether to testify or prepare her to do so.

•           Obstructed appellate counsel’s attempts to obtain the client file.

•           Falsely implied that certain documents had been transferred to Client A’s new counsel’s office when they had not and then lied about the existence of a folder of documents.

•           Sexually harassed Client A in several ways, including by making sexually inappropriate comments and giving her unwanted hugs. This alone compromised the fairness of the trial.

Sex harassment

The Lawyer attended Client A’s place of work (a hair salon) where he would ask for a free haircut or demand cash payments for his legal services. He made numerous remarks of a sexual nature that were unwelcome, such as “I can’t believe you are not getting laid.”

As noted above, Mr. Justice Shreck found that the Lawyer had sexually harassed Client A. The foundation for this conclusion is set out in his decision. At para 123, he wrote:

… in her affidavit and fresh evidence, [Client A] stated that trial counsel made inappropriate comments about the size of her breasts and about her body, lips and buttocks. There were occasions where he hugged her for inappropriate long periods of time. On one occasion, he smacked her on the buttocks while they were in the courthouse hallway. She reported this to [her Bail Supervisor] and they discussed the possibility of making a report to the Law Society.

 In reaching his conclusion, Justice Shreck relied on a series of texts between the Lawyer and another female client (Client B) that were highly suggestive, i.e. “You need me to cuddle you and you would sleep like a baby” and “If you are good you need a cuddle and if you are bad you need a spanking.”

His license will be revoked if he does not surrender his license by March 6, 2025. (Mike Frisch)