of self regulation? - The Law Society of Upper Canada

standard was not “malice or intent to harm” but “recklessness” or “gross or serious
carelessness.” 24
Even in finding for Ms. Finney, the Court did not set an impossibly high standard
for the Barreau to meet in its duty to the public. A standard of gross carelessness does not
require that the Barreau watch over the shoulder of every lawyer, all the time, but rather
that it institute effective, quick processes to deal with complaints as they come in, and to
deal with lawyers who are unfit to practice and are therefore a threat to the public, as was
Mr. Belhassen. The court’s finding that the Barreau had not met this standard in its
handling of Ms. Finney’s complaint is cause for some concern about the effectiveness of
the law societies’ regulatory and disciplinary processes. Even more disconcerting is the
highly adversarial and protectionist stance of the Federation of Law Societies which, it
seems, was intervening on behalf of the Law Societies’ interest rather than the public
interest.
4. Sexual Relations with a Client
Practicing lawyers in Canada were recently reminded that sexual and romantic
relationships with clients is an area which the legal profession has yet to come down on
quite so hard as the regulating bodies of other professions. In December 2005, one of
Canada’s leading lawyers, George Hunter, a senior partner at Borden Ladner Gervais in
Ottawa, the Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and the president of the
Canadian Federation of Law Societies stepped down from his posts and took a leave of
absence from his firm, citing the breakdown of his marriage, and his concern for the
24 Ibid at para. 40.
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