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  • Ethical breach of duty by lawyer

    What constitutes an ethical breach of duty to a client by a family court lawyer and what recourse does a person have? For example not communicating viral information which drastically affects your abitlity to give him directions, not protecting your rights, not showing up at a TMC, giving you misleading advice ?

  • #2
    Originally posted by Stillbreathing View Post
    What constitutes an ethical breach of duty to a client by a family court lawyer and what recourse does a person have? For example not communicating viral information which drastically affects your abitlity to give him directions, not protecting your rights, not showing up at a TMC, giving you misleading advice ?
    not communicating information - reportable
    not protecting your rights - reportable but usually hard to prove
    now showing up in court - reportable and possible negligence
    giving you misleading advice - reportable but usually hard to prove

    see here for more information
    Rules of Professional Conduct | The Law Society of Upper Canada

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    • #3
      ..and if you want to report the lawyer.. then here are the steps to make a complaint:

      How to Make a Complaint | The Law Society of Upper Canada

      I have made complaints about lawyers previously including an opposing counsel that was ignoring communications from me and being rude to me in the court hallways when I was self represented. They provided her with a bunch of documents to read to learn how to deal with self represented parties - that a lawyer has to deal with a self-represented party with the same professional conduct they are bound to when in dealing with other lawyers.

      It's always fun to register a complaint under a lawyer's practicing license. Instead of smirking at you, they put their head down the next time they see in you in the courts. You get to be the done smirking at them. I love it.

      I'm still perfecting my complaint about my last lawyer. You have 3 years to file a complaint. She knows it's coming. It's always fun to surprise them with a complaint when they least expect it.
      Last edited by trinton; 04-22-2017, 11:32 AM.

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      • #4
        Thanks Trinton. That was helpful. Like any other service provider, they need to be kept in check every once in awhile. Just because those of us going through divorce are vulnerable doesn't mean they can get away with providing less than stellar service and always get away with it. They need to know we can bite back.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Stillbreathing View Post
          What constitutes an ethical breach of duty to a client by a family court lawyer and what recourse does a person have? For example not communicating viral information which drastically affects your abitlity to give him directions, not protecting your rights, not showing up at a TMC, giving you misleading advice ?
          Not showing up at a TMC is an actionable offense and easy to demonstrate. The rest is all subjective.

          TMC schedule for date X.
          Court notified lawyer on date Y.
          The lawyer didn't show up on date X.

          You can get the info from the courthouse on when they notified the lawyer in question.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by trinton View Post
            It's always fun to surprise them with a complaint when they least expect it.
            I wouldn't, anyone, make a complaint against opposing counsel unless it was valid. Here is why:

            https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/do...5onsc5982.html

            Scipione v Scipione, 2015 ONSC 5982 (CanLII)
            Date: 2015-10-02
            Docket: 2839/14
            Other citation: 68 RFL (7th) 66
            Citation: Scipione v Scipione, 2015 ONSC 5982 (CanLII)

            Of course, it is from Justice Pazaratz. Para. 106 onwards Pazaratz offers up some very strong words about the nonsense of personally attacking the other party’s lawyer. It is included in the “bad faith” analysis of the party in questions conduct.

            106. Family law can be a nasty business – more often than not because of the parties, even though the lawyers usually get the blame.
            a. Lawyers practising family law face a particularly difficult, hostile and accusatory environment.
            b. As officers of the court they have an obligation to judges.
            c. And as judges we have a corresponding obligation to the legal profession.

            107. We already have increasing concern about the number of self-represented litigants in family court.

            a. That’s not just because of unaffordable legal fees.
            b. It’s also because of a growing shortage of experienced lawyers willing to do this kind of work.
            c. The reasons are well-known: Too many rules. Too much professional exposure. Too much paperwork. Too much emotion. Too many hassles.
            d. Most of that comes with the territory.
            e. But while the focus should always be on litigants – and not lawyers – at a certain point our judicial system has an obligation to step in when lawyers take hits they don’t deserve.

            108. Malicious or reckless personal attacks against a spouse’s lawyer must be discouraged.
            a. They are not just mean-spirited.
            b. They often constitute transparent attempts to punish the lawyer for doing their job. Or discourage the lawyer from continuing to do their job.
            c. They create distractions.
            d. They waste time and money, and sap energy.
            e. They are a form of intimidation and affect access to justice.
            f. Such complaints cost virtually nothing to file. And yet they can create enormous financial and emotional headaches for lawyers who have to spend significant time responding to attacks on their reputation and potentially their livelihood.
            g. Sometimes they force the accused lawyer to transfer the file.
            h. That sort of interference with the solicitor-client relationship strikes at the core of our justice system.
            Good Luck!
            Tayken

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