The Law Society does not specifically restrict lawyers from having sexual relations with clients. But its code of conduct requires lawyers to advise clients to seek independent legal advice about potential conflicts posed by intimate relations with their lawyer.
The Globe and Mail
February 3, 2007
Pillar of the law falls from grace for impropriety
Jacquie McNish
A prominent Ottawa lawyer who rose to become one of his profession's top regulators was suspended from practising law for 60 days yesterday after he admitted to misconduct during a 2½-year sexual affair with a client.
A disciplinary panel of the Law Society of Upper Canada yesterday ordered George Hunter, a partner with national law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, to suspend his practice as of Feb. 5. Mr. Hunter's lawyer, Chris Paliare, told the hearing the case marks "the sharpest and hardest fall from grace" of a lawyer who was regarded as the "conscience" of his firm and a dedicated guardian of the profession's ethical standards.
Mr. Hunter, 59, has been on a paid leave of absence from Borden since December, 2005, and Mr. Paliare told the hearing the firm "is taking him back" after the suspension.
A spokesman for Borden, however, said a "final decision" has not been made about Mr. Hunter's future employment. "The firm will review the panel's decision to determine if it is appropriate," the spokesman said.
Mr. Hunter's case has cast a harsh light on a heated debate over how the legal profession should regulate members who have sexual relations with their clients.
Until December of 2005, Mr. Hunter was a treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the most senior position in an organization that regulates Ontario's 36,000 lawyers.
The Law Society does not specifically restrict lawyers from having sexual relations with clients. But its code of conduct requires lawyers to advise clients to seek independent legal advice about potential conflicts posed by intimate relations with their lawyer.
Mr. Hunter's professional life began to unravel a month earlier when he had dinner at an Ottawa restaurant with his client and advised her that he was having affairs with two other women. Mr. Hunter was married at the time and his client was a recently divorced mother, identified only as XY.
According to an agreed statement of fact submitted to yesterday's hearings, Mr. Hunter urged his client at the dinner and on several other occasions to sign a document and tell his law firm that he had acted properly.
Mr. Hunter, who is now separated from his wife, admitted in the statement yesterday that his client did not obtain the required independent advice about their relationship.
Because Mr. Hunter admitted to the charges of misconduct, he was not required to testify at the hearing. However, he stood briefly before the panel to read a prepared statement.
"I realize and accept that I have caused pain to my former client… . I recognize that as a former bencher and treasurer, my conduct has cast an unfortunate shadow over the important role that lawyers play in promoting and protecting the ideals of justice. My conduct has profoundly disappointed and hurt those closest to me, my partners, my friends and most importantly, my family. I'm very sorry."
Douglas Hunt, a lawyer for the Law Society asked the panel to suspend Mr. Hunter for four months to make "the point of just how dangerous those waters are" when a lawyer enters a personal relationship with a client.
Mr. Hunter's lawyer, Mr. Paliare, countered that his client should only be reprimanded.
Mr. Paliare read letters of support from several prominent Canadian lawyers who urged the panel to be lenient in its deliberations because, as one wrote, Mr. Hunter he had suffered a "lapse of judgment."
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