BY PHILIP SLAYTON LEGAL ETHICS
worse than the lawyers they are chasing. The Law Society of Upper Canada
Discipline disasters T
Two recent proceedings against members of the legal profession don't shine a particularly good light on the regulators.
wo recent disciplin- ary proceedings against members of the legal pro- fession make the people running things look a lot
has been persecuting Joe Groia since 2009. In June, an LSUC hearing panel found Groia guilty of professional mis- conduct, delivering an unconvincing
53-page pastiche of cut-and-paste rea- sons. And then there has been the bizarre spectacle of a Canadian Judicial Council inquiry committee investigat- ing the conduct of Lori Douglas, the associate chief justice of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench. I've written about Toronto litigator
charges. He was accused by judges of being strident and sarcastic in the pro- ceedings, rude to the lawyer for the Ontario Securities Commission, and prone to "rhetorical excess" and "petu- lant invective.
Groia before in these pages. He success- fully defended John Felderhof, of Bre-X Minerals notoriety, on insider-trading
16 OCTO BER 2012 www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com
ed: "Lawyers have a duty to act in good faith, with respect and courtesy to the court, and to all persons with whom they deal in the course of their professional
The LSUC hearing panel pontificat- "
todd Julie
