@charlesrusnell.bsky.social:
Jonathan Denis becomes first former Alberta justice minister to be sanctioned by Law Society of Alberta. Reprimand and $5,000 fine plus costs of investigation yet to be determined. Panel determined there was “marked departure” from standards of practice.
@ratlantica.bsky.social:
Is that all? You mean they didn’t take away his licence?
He should resign now.
ABC @abcyyc.bsky.social
No suspension, being a “first offender” and all
He can’t hide behind that veil if he goes up in front of the LSA again
Pffft, the lawyer self regulator will protect Mr. Scuzzy, again and again. That’s their job, while working over time to bamboozle the public into believing we have a regulated legal profession.
They couldn’t decide on costs, so that amount will come out in writing at a later date.
I can’t see it being nil, but the LSA has surprised me in the past
Denis has until Feb 28 to pay the $5K fine
Merry Christmas
Hepner reading his CV a la Wikipedia and calling it “exemplary”
Of course Hepner pushed for no costs, suggesting that his client is an altar boy at heart
… IMHO, Denis learned nothing today. More of a sigh of relief.
I had zero surprises today except when his lawyer described his legal career as “exemplary”
Nemesis @globalpoint.bsky.social:
Did someone say “Altar Boy”. That would explain a lot. It did you mean “Alter Boy”
troublingmind.bsky.social @troublingmind.bsky.social:
Will he lose his ‘King’s Council’ designation? Seems like ‘History of honesty, integrity, discretion, and candid dealings in professional and personal matters’ doesn’t fit Denis at all but then Shandro and Madu also have this.
ABC @abcyyc.bsky.social:
No mention of KC
I think there’s a different process to get that taken away.
I’ve been asked that question a lot lately
Doug Ford’s Kryptonite @dfhak.bsky.social:
Any video from today’s session? It was available online iirc
ABC @abcyyc.bsky.social:
No
They record the Zoom session but don’t make it public.
Wasn’t much to see. Denis spent 90% of more time hiding from the camera.
When he was there he looked nervous and twitchy and would still only show half his face.
He showed little sign of contrition.
He lawyer did all the talking.
Former justice minister Jonathan Denis fined $5,000 by Calgary Herald, Dec 6, 2024
Former justice minister Jonathan Denis has been reprimanded and fined for two breaches of the Legal Profession Act code of conduct.
A Law Society of Alberta committee panel accepted a joint submission Thursday from Denis’ lawyer, Alain Hepner, and hearing counsel Shanna Hunka to order him to pay $2,500 for each of two breaches he committed under the act and receive a formal reprimand.
But the committee reserved on the issue of whether Denis will have to pay costs for his prosecution. Hunka sought costs of $26,000, while Hepner argued no costs should be levied.
In September a three-member panel found Denis’ conduct on two of his files amounted to breaches of the act.
“After reviewing all of the evidence and exhibits, and hearing the testimony and arguments of the LSA (counsel) and Mr. Denis for the reasons set out below, the committee finds Mr. Denis guilty of conduct deserving of sanction,” they said in a lengthy written ruling.
Denis was brought before the law society on allegations he was in a conflict of interest while acting for parties involved in a motor vehicle accident and for threatening to report a peace officer to her regulatory authority for the benefit of a client she had an affair with.
In the first case the father of a Calgary teen asked Denis to represent his daughter in connection with a car crash. But after receiving a police report about the incident months later, Denis decided to represent the girl’s passenger instead.
The second citation dealt with an allegation Denis threatened to report a woman, a peace officer who was on medical leave, to her regulatory authority if she didn’t stop contacting his client, who had an affair with her.
In the first instance the panel found Denis received significant confidential information from the driver and her father “which he either failed to recognize or failed to relay to his firm’s conflict officer.”
“While Mr. Denis denies that he chose the better client because she had the better claim, public perception would likely see this differently,” they wrote. “The committee finds that Mr. Denis committed significantly more than a ‘technical’ breach of the code.”
They also rejected arguments from Hepner that the former justice minister’s conduct in that instance wasn’t deserving of sanction.
“He argues that good faith, sincerely held beliefs, and due diligence of the lawyer are evidence that the conduct will not reach the threshold of ‘marked departure’ of conduct expected of the lawyer and is therefore not deserving of sanction.
“The cases cited … do not support his arguments. Inadvertence, good faith, honest but mistaken understanding and other non-willful conduct are not sufficient to avoid a finding of sanctionable conduct.”
In the second case Denis was approached to help a couple after the husband’s extramarital affair with another woman ended and she had emailed to wife to tell her about the affair.
Denis sent the other woman a cease-and-desist email threatening to report her to her regulatory authority.
In reprimanding Denis, committee chair Corinne Petersen said the lawyer both by acting in a conflict of interest and threatening someone to achieve a benefit for a client.
“Both situations raised serious ethical concerns and are the types of conduct which tarnish the reputation and public trust in the legal profession,”Don’t fret. Citizens know well how inhumane, corrupt, racist, pro rapist, misogynistic, expensive and anti rule of law the legal-judicial industry is in Canada, especially dirty in Alberta. Your reputation was long ago drowned in Alberta’s toxic bitumen tailings swamps swap Petersen said.
Refer also to:
