Lawyer slept with client

[helenj]

Hello,

I was the Respondent and have just come to find out that the Applicant (my ex-wife) is now in a relationship with her Lawyer. This lawyer represented the Applicant at a contentious family trial and during a 2-year litigation process.

I have reasons to believe that the Applicant and the lawyer were in a relationship during the litigation process. In fact, only a couple months after the litigation was complete, the Applicant became pregnant with the lawyer's baby.

I also had costs ordered against me but given that they were in a relationship, I am uncertain if the lawyer actually incurred costs or just billed time for appearances sake.

I would like to understand if any of this constitutes a violation of LSO professional ethics and if so, what type of documentation would be needed to proceed?

If the relationship did indeed occur during the litigation, what benefits can I expect to receive? Can I get my court costs back or the court order thrown out?

Thanks

[rockscan]

Her being in a relationship should have little to do with your case. You pushed for trial knowing it was a crapshoot to win. You were charged with rape. You had supervised access…the list goes on. All of what you are saying is conjecture with respect to billings etc.

You need to stop trying to find ways to get back at your ex. You committed assault, your custody was determined based on this and other facts and you lost your case leading to costs against you.

Go ahead and report it to LSUC but I am sure the lawyer and your ex will show it happened after the case.

[helenj]

Her being in a relationship should have little to do with your case. You pushed for trial knowing it was a crapshoot to win. You were charged with rape. You had supervised access…the list goes on. All of what you are saying is conjecture with respect to billings etc.

You need to stop trying to find ways to get back at your ex. You committed assault, your custody was determined based on this and other facts and you lost your case leading to costs against you.

Go ahead and report it to LSUC but I am sure the lawyer and your ex will show it happened after the case.

Since when is getting charged for rape proof of guilt? Are you not familiar with innocent until proven guilty? You should realize that there are a lot of men out there getting charged for DV as a way for the woman to get a huge leg up in family court. You're fortunate you haven't had to face a false rape allegation but open the Bible and you can see false rape allegations are as old as time (story of Joseph).

Talk to any divorced guy and they will tell you the same. Anyways, thanks for your help and hope you can grow to see both sides of the equation going forward.

[Kkc]

Where i will agree is that men are falsely accused of everything. In my situation, if I had not been body camming myself pre-separation, I would have been fucked.
I have text messages that she sent after I picked up my kids (where she was witholding my daughter) stating that I attempted to run her over.
At my sons sacraments, she claimed to CAS I verbally assaulted her and they actually questioned me. I had to get the church to e-mail my innocence.
More recently she sent an email to the kids psychologist and copied me on it that following a drop off I screamed at her repeatedly and the kids were crying that they were going to lose everything.

Thankfully, I constantly record myself from a concealed phone every time i am around her. At times, I have had to set up dashboard cams and multiple things around me because one allegation can screw you over.
If I go to trial, i will just show her e-mail, play the audio and she's is done.

I do not know your details, but there was a trial that made a determination. Maybe you did not have the foresight to be as cautious as I was. Either way, trying to rehash the trial never works, just move forward and plan ahead, which is a shitty option, but you do not have any.

[rockscan]

Since when is getting charged for rape proof of guilt? Are you not familiar with innocent until proven guilty? You should realize that there are a lot of men out there getting charged for DV as a way for the woman to get a huge leg up in family court. You're fortunate you haven't had to face a false rape allegation but open the Bible and you can see false rape allegations are as old as time (story of Joseph).

Talk to any divorced guy and they will tell you the same. Anyways, thanks for your help and hope you can grow to see both sides of the equation going forward.

You really need to get over yourself. You got off on a technicality. You weren't acquitted. The charge still had an impact on your case. And you pushed to trial and lost. How many more times can you be told you are wrong before it gets through to you? Now you are trying to claim that your ex's relationship with her lawyer should vindicate you. It's ridiculous and screams of your control issue. As far as your false accusations are concerned—you weren't acquitted. Your case was closed on a technicality. The judge didn't believe you in your custody case. You had a significant cost award leveled against you. You are not a victim. Get over yourself.

[noteasy]

Wow! That felt abusive. False allegations galore when it comes to child custody and child support is the norm.
I understand that the prosecutors did not press the case because they didn't have reasonable chance of conviction and so let the case sit in limbo. Getting someone charged via fabricated allegation is easy peasy because it is policy to charge the accused with nothing more than the written word of a single person.

So, to address the original question. This is what the internet says

https://canliiconnects.org/en/commentaries/46702
"The hearing tribunal found that Mr. Macri’s behavior in both acting for his client and sleeping with her was a conflict of interest. His loan to her, which he did not disclose to his law firm was the basis for their finding that Mr. Macri lacked integrity, and his inappropriate and abusive emails to her constituted dishonourable conduct."

https://www.slaw.ca/2018/07/03/regul...er-client-sex/
says there is no law against it.

So basically you would have to speak with a lawyer because it isn't easy to crack that nut.
You want to accuse a lawyer of fraud and need some evidence to get more evidence.
Unless they turn against each other like in the Canlii article how are you going to crack that is a mystery.
It could just be that the lawyer took advantage of your ex and as of 2018 that is legal in Ontario. Not justice but legal and so OK.
Maybe they waited until after the case completed.

A complaint with the Law Society is probably the step after talking with a lawyer and it sounds like you don't have a war chest of the ability to act on your own.

[rockscan]

Wow! That felt abusive. False allegations galore when it comes to child custody and child support is the norm.
I understand that the prosecutors did not press the case because they didn't have reasonable chance of conviction and so let the case sit in limbo. Getting someone charged via fabricated allegation is easy peasy because it is policy to charge the accused with nothing more than the written word of a single person.

So, to address the original question. This is what the internet says

https://canliiconnects.org/en/commentaries/46702
"The hearing tribunal found that Mr. Macri’s behavior in both acting for his client and sleeping with her was a conflict of interest. His loan to her, which he did not disclose to his law firm was the basis for their finding that Mr. Macri lacked integrity, and his inappropriate and abusive emails to her constituted dishonourable conduct."

https://www.slaw.ca/2018/07/03/regul...er-client-sex/
says there is no law against it.

So basically you would have to speak with a lawyer because it isn't easy to crack that nut.
You want to accuse a lawyer of fraud and need some evidence to get more evidence.
Unless they turn against each other like in the Canlii article how are you going to crack that is a mystery.
It could just be that the lawyer took advantage of your ex and as of 2018 that is legal in Ontario. Not justice but legal and so OK.
Maybe they waited until after the case completed.

A complaint with the Law Society is probably the step after talking with a lawyer and it sounds like you don't have a war chest of the ability to act on your own.

OP has been trying to find a way out of taking responsibility from the beginning. Even after losing his case and having a significant costs award against him he STILL wants to find away out of taking responsibility. Now his ex has moved on he wants to blame her lawyer for his losses. Go back and read his posts and the responses especially from iona who went through a domestic violence case. He doesn't have a sob story. He needs to man up and own the consequences of his behaviour.

I know false allegations are the norm in family law and there have been many men here who have had that happen and the false allegations have been dropped or found to be false. In this case they were never found to be false, it was ended on a technicality. There was enough evidence against him to be carried into family court. It is no different than the drug dealer in BC who murdered people. His case was delayed and he was set free. He was still a murderer, just didn't go to trial because the delay. Don't confuse a case being dismissed because of court problems with a case ending with a finding of not guilty. The two are very different. And it is disingenuous to compare OP to the people on here who have been falsely accused and lost their kids.

[noteasy]

OP has been trying to find a way out of taking responsibility from the beginning. Even after losing his case and having a significant costs award against him he STILL wants to find away out of taking responsibility. Now his ex has moved on he wants to blame her lawyer for his losses. Go back and read his posts and the responses especially from iona who went through a domestic violence case. He doesn't have a sob story. He needs to man up and own the consequences of his behaviour.

I know false allegations are the norm in family law and there have been many men here who have had that happen and the false allegations have been dropped or found to be false. In this case they were never found to be false, it was ended on a technicality. There was enough evidence against him to be carried into family court. It is no different than the drug dealer in BC who murdered people. His case was delayed and he was set free. He was still a murderer, just didn't go to trial because the delay. Don't confuse a case being dismissed because of court problems with a case ending with a finding of not guilty. The two are very different. And it is disingenuous to compare OP to the people on here who have been falsely accused and lost their kids.

Those are your personal feelings on this and perhaps Iona's; an internet spat. Now you are comparing him to some drug dealer you say is a murderer. Hitler next?

In Family Court the standard for evidence is low. An unverified affidavit filled out by either party is evidence.
I presume HelenJ filled out an affidavit saying he didn't do it, that is evidence.

You or I could write an affidavit stating the moon is made of cheese. That is evidence too. Stupid evidence but still evidence, imagine what someone with some intelligence and nefarious purposes can do. It is just the way the legal system works.

If you claim to have detailed inside knowledge of how the crown made their decision not to pursue I will read it.
If you link to the court decision in HelenJ's trial I will read it.

[rockscan]

Those are your personal feelings on this and perhaps Iona's; an internet spat. Now you are comparing him to some drug dealer you say is a murderer. Hitler next?

In Family Court the standard for evidence is low. An unverified affidavit filled out by either party is evidence.
I presume HelenJ filled out an affidavit saying he didn't do it, that is evidence.

You or I could write an affidavit stating the moon is made of cheese. That is evidence too. Stupid evidence but still evidence, imagine what someone with some intelligence and nefarious purposes can do. It is just the way the legal system works.

If you claim to have detailed inside knowledge of how the crown made their decision not to pursue I will read it.
If you link to the court decision in HelenJ's trial I will read it.

Not an internet spat. He was charged and was headed for trial. It's not the same as a family law case where one party says he hit me and then evidence from CAS, social workers, doctors etc. say it didn't happen. This has been discussed ad nauseam on all of his previous threads where he tried to get sympathy and also tried to find a way to vindicate himself. He was ordered to pay tens of thousands of costs in a case he lost. It's not the same thing.

[noteasy]

Not an internet spat. He was charged and was headed for trial. It's not the same as a family law case where one party says he hit me and then evidence from CAS, social workers, doctors etc. say it didn't happen. This has been discussed ad nauseam on all of his previous threads where he tried to get sympathy and also tried to find a way to vindicate himself. He was ordered to pay tens of thousands of costs in a case he lost. It's not the same thing.

But he didn't go to trial, did he. The prosecutors decided they had better things to do.
What you described about being charged and heading to trial is very common. It happens to innocent and guilty people.

Innocent people actually are tried as well, this didn't make it that far.

[StillPaying]

OP never went through false allegations and dating your lawyer post separation means nothing.

Why would it matter. What outcome would've been different?
you lost, and there are real costs for that.