Why didn’t LSO take action years ago if these alleged sexual assaults were long and well known within and beyond the local legal community, as stated by Justice FL Myers in his Dec 16, 2022 ruling?
Oh, right! Stupid question, the LSO, a self-regulating club of mostly white privileged male lawyers, many of them drunks, knowingly licences convicted sexual abusers of the worst kind – pedophiles. I expect LSO sees adult women raped by lawyers as even more fair game than kids.
Given the reported “creepy” behaviour by supreme court of Canada J Russell Brown leading to him being suspended and under investigation, and then stepping down because a few months of it was too long for poor asshole him (the fucking courts dragged my case out for years, going nowhere but stress me out, waste my time and money, and break my heart and soul), and the far too common abusive shite and crimes in the legal profession, are any authorities taking appropriate responsible action to clean it up? No, of course not! Abuse women and kids is their motto.
Many innocent citizens are being harmed by bad lawyers and judges, persons in positions of power. We are propagandized to trust them, which is most unwise given reality. I’ve learned from experience not to trust a word a Canadian judge or lawyer says, and to never to trust their self regulators, the judicial council and law societies.
***
Finally, months later, LSO takes his law licence away, FFS, way too late:
Disgraced lawyer James Bowie’s licence to practise revoked, Licence revoked Monday during hearing, Law Society Tribunal confirms by Kristy Nease, CBC News, Dec 02, 2025
Disgraced criminal defence lawyer James Bowie’s licence to practise was revoked Monday during a hearing of the Law Society Tribunal, CBC News has learned.
Bowie was convicted in March of death threats, criminal harassment and extortion involving an ex-client and a former close friend. In September, he was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment.
He has been denied bail pending an appeal of those convictions.
- James Bowie gets 4 years imprisonment for threatening ex-client, extortion, harassment
- Disgraced lawyer James Bowie denied bail pending appeal of his convictions
The Law Society Tribunal is an independent adjudicative tribunal that self regulates and enables many bad lawyers and kid rapists, processes, hears and decides regulatory cases between the Law Society of Ontario and its lawyers and paralegals “in a manner that is fair, just and in the public interest,” according to its websitebut in reality harms the public interest more often than not by serving and protecting dirty lawyers
At a virtual case conference in October, Law Society Tribunal panel chair Malcolm Mercer directed that the disciplinary hearing could proceed in Bowie’s absence because he’s in prison. Bowie had been unrepresented in the matter since July, after his lawyer successfully argued to be removed as counsel.So a criminal’s lawyer must argue to be removed, while a civil litigant gets no fucking notice, no arguments, no chance to defend self or case, and same fucking self regulator says that’s perfectly fine. Shit hole, the LSO.
‘It’s very validating,’ victim’s lawyer says
Emilie Taman, who represented Bowie’s victim Leanne Aubin during Bowie’s criminal trial, attended the hearing Monday along with about 10 other members of the public. Bowie did not attend and did not have counsel present.
The allegations against him were read into the record, the panel then adjourned for about 20 minutes before coming back and finding that the allegations were founded. Law Society of Ontario counsel Chad Skinner made submissions that Bowie’s licence should be immediately
years too late!revoked, and after a brief recess the panel made that order.
“Our client went through a lot to get to this point,” Taman said. “The events that unfolded after making [her] complaint were serious and upsetting and traumatizing for her.”
“So to see that the Law Society’s mandate to protect the public has been finally executed, following her complaint and all the complaints that flowed from her initial complaint, I know it’s very validating,” she said.
Bowie has the option of applying for judicial review of the tribunal’s ruling in Divisional Court.
***
@mspratt:
James Bowie has been sentenced to 4 years in prison. His victim, Leanne, showed remarkable courage by speaking out. Now we can help her rebuild her life with safety, dignity & hope. Please stand with her today: https://gofund.me/3b01402a In my view, Leanne did what the LSO is paid to fucking do! Unforgivable, the LSO enabling Bowie’s crimes!
Today, disgraced Ottawa lawyer James Bowie is being sentenced for harassment and threats. He wanted to kill Leanne, who exposed him. Leanne, showed incredible courage by coming forward. Now it’s time to help her rebuild her life. Stand with her today:
Help Leanne Rebuild After Unimaginable Betrayal and Trauma
Victoria Simpson:
Kudos to the Aubin woman for Trying to get justice . The whole Legal Hierarchy protects these Rogue Lawyers ….Judges , Law Society , Politicians ,….. who , most , are all lawyers .Canada’s legal-judical industry is a greedy vulgar piss-on-the-law rape club
@julieslalonde.bsky.social:
Ottawa’s convoy resistance darling that so many of us warned people was actually a scumbag.
I’ve long maintained that professions like doctors, judges,lawyers, cops, etc. should be given stricter sentences because their violations of trust run deeper.
Four years for these crimes is far too little time.True, but, Bowie is a white man, a lawyer white man in misogynistic Caveman (where rape is the rule of law) Canada
James Bowie gets 4 years imprisonment for threatening ex-client, extortion, harassment, Suspended Ottawa lawyer was found guilty in March, and his bail was revoked in July by Kristy Nease, CBC News, Sep 02, 2025
James Bowie, a suspended criminal defence lawyer in Ottawa who threatened to kill a former client and criminally harassed and extorted a friend of his, has received a four-year sentence for his crimes.
The judge said in Ontario Court in Ottawa on Tuesday that the appropriate sentencing range is anywhere from two to seven years in prison. The Crown had sought a four-year custodial sentence fo Bowie, while the defence argued for a reformatory sentence to be served in the community.
Bowie’s trial revolved around the testimony of two women who detailed a series of abuses at the hands of the lawyer, who is still suspended by the Law Society of Ontario for his failure to co-operate with unrelated and related investigations.
In late 2022, a woman named Leanne Aubin told reporters Bowie had offered her his legal services in exchange for sexual favours.
In March of this year, Ontario Court Justice Paul Cooper found that in Bowie’s attempts to clear his name, he threatened to kill Aubin, tried to get another woman to obtain a gun for him, and harassed the other woman when she tried to ghost him.
The judge said Bowie followed the woman’s movements with tracking devices, called her from multiple numbers, watched her house and continued sending her messages after she stopped replying.Creepy and disgusting!
While Bowie denied the charges against him, he admitted during his testimony that he twice placed a GPS tracker on the woman’s car and used it to follow her.
The woman cannot be identified because of a publication ban, but a similar ban on Aubin’s name was lifted at her request.
- Lawyer James Bowie guilty of harassment, extortion, death threats
- Crown seeking 4 years for suspended lawyer James Bowie
During a sentencing hearing in July, the Crown acknowledged that Bowie, 43, has no prior criminal record and had obeyed a strict curfew while out on bail, with no further charges or breaches.
But Bowie’s offence was serious, the Crown maintained, as it involved the “deliberate and sustained victimization of women.”
“I would submit that Mr. Bowie was found guilty of a very dedicated effort to break the law,” said assistant Crown attorney Kerry Watson. “He tried to intervene with a valid complaint process and civil proceedings by threatening and therefore causing fear in his former client.”
Bowie’s defence lawyer, Eric Granger, argued a conditional sentence — served in the community and at least partially under house arrest — would be a more appropriate option than prison.
He didn’t suggest a specific duration, but conditional sentences are generally a maximum of two years less a day.
Bowie’s actions stemmed from a desperate bid for self-preservation, Granger said.
The Law Society has made additional allegations against Bowie.
Justice Cooper revoked Bowie’s bail after his sentencing hearing in July, saying it would be “very cruel” if Bowie was allowed to remain free.
Judge revokes bail for former lawyer James Bowie at sentencing hearing, Prosecutors asked for a four-year jail sentence for Bowie, who was found guilty of criminal harassment, extortion and uttering threats by Aedan Helmer, Jul 28, 2025, Ottawa Citizen
The two women victimized by James Bowie said the former criminal defence lawyer “weaponized” his position of trust and friendship for his own personal gratification.
Bowie, 43, was found guilty in March of criminal harassment and extorting a friend by pressuring her to obtain a gun for him to “take care” of his former client, Leanne Aubin.
Ontario Court Justice Paul Cooper found Bowie not guilty of one additional count of extortion related to Aubin, but found him guilty of uttering threats to kill her.
Crown prosecutor Kerry Watson called for a four-year jail sentence for Bowie, including one year for criminal harassment, one year for extortion and two years for uttering threats, each to be served consecutively.
Watson also requested an order for Bowie to submit a DNA sample, a 10-year weapons prohibition, a non-communication order with the victims and the forfeiture of his GPS tracking devices that were seized by police during their investigation.
Bowie’s defence lawyer, Eric Granger, countered with a request for a conditional sentence with a “significant” period of house arrest and probation. Granger noted Bowie was a first-time offender who had abided by his curfew and release conditions in the 27 months since he was granted bail in April 2023.
Cooper reserved his decision for a sentencing hearing scheduled for Sept. 2, but said Bowie’s crimes would likely merit a penitentiary sentence of at least two years.
The two victims were emotional in court as the judge revoked Bowie’s bail and ordered him remanded into custody. Aubin was cradled by her lawyers Michael Spratt and Emilie Taman as Bowie walked past them from the defence bar to the prisoner’s box to begin serving his sentence.
The name of Bowie’s former friend is shielded by a court-ordered publication ban. A similar order shielded Aubin’s identity before she requested to have the publication ban lifted earlier in the proceedings.
Both women provided lengthy testimony during Bowie’s trial, and both women stood before the court again on July 28 to provide victim impact statements for the judge to consider in rendering his sentence.
Aubin said she was enduring “one of the darkest, most frightening moments” of her life when she was facing a criminal assault charge in 2023 and sought out Bowie’s legal counsel.
She was “vulnerable and desperate for guidance, for protection, and for someone to help me hold onto my future,” Aubin said Monday.
“Mr. Bowie used his status, his experience and my desperation to try to turn me into something I never was: an object he could manipulate and abuse for his own gratification.”
She said Bowie’s suggestion that she exchange sexual favours for legal services made her feel “frozen in horror … I felt worthless, I felt dirty, I felt dehumanized.”
Bowie was ultimately acquitted of the extortion charge related to the sex-for-legal services allegations. The initial assault charge against Aubin was quickly withdrawn after she hired a new lawyer.
The fear and threats didn’t end there, Aubin said Monday, but “multiplied” when she learned he was trying to acquire a gun.
“Mr. Bowie didn’t just abuse his position, he weaponized it,” Aubin said. “He didn’t just break the rules, he preyed on the vulnerable — the very people the justice system is meant to protect.”
After Aubin complained about his conduct to the Law Society of Ontario — resulting in an investigation and eventual suspension from practising law — Bowie “spiralled into a campaign of threats and harassment,” according to the Crown.
He pressured his friend to obtain a gun and tracked her with GPS devices when the woman broke off contact.
“What you did to me — harassing, manipulating, attempting to extort and coerce me into committing a crime to help you — isn’t just morally bankrupt, it’s reprehensible,” the woman said in court Monday.
“To do that under the guise of friendship is a betrayal so vicious it’s hard to fit into proper professional words.”
The woman said she suffered panic attacks and post-traumatic stress after Bowie “invaded every corner of my privacy.”
Watson said Bowie’s conduct demonstrated “a deeply troubling pattern of predation of vulnerable women” and said “that trust was used as a weapon.”
Bowie spoke to the Ottawa Citizen after he was found guilty in March and denied he had ever threatened anyone and claimed there were “a number of fabrications” in the testimony of both witnesses.
“I never threatened to kill anyone, ever, or have anyone help having anyone killed on my behalf, nor would I ever do so,” Bowie said in the interview.
Both the Crown and defence said they struggled to find any similar cases in Canadian law to establish a precedent for an appropriate sentence.
Bowie launched his own legal practice in 2017 and “undertook something of an educational campaign,” Granger said, by “live-tweeting” the various court cases related to the 2022 convoy protests. He gained a large social media following during those contentious bail hearings, and Granger said he often encouraged his followers to donate to local charities.
“He seemingly was on his way. Things changed and there was a downward spiral,” Granger said. “These were the actions of a man who had reached rock bottom, who saw his career disappearing on him, who saw those close to him disappearing on him.”
Bowie was in “significant decline” after Aubin’s complaint to the Law Society was picked up by local media and was “desperate for self-preservation,” Granger said.
He said Bowie had since suffered “significant consequences” with the loss of his law career.
When asked whether he had anything to say to the court, Bowie complimented the judge and expressed “great sympathy” for the task of determining a sentence.
“I’m at peace with it,” Bowie told the judge. “I have no hard feelings and I wish you all the best.”
Crown seeking 4 years for suspended lawyer James Bowie, Lawyer previously found guilty of extortion, uttering death threats and criminal harassment by Joseph Tunney, CBC News, Jul 28, 2025
The Crown is seeking a four-year custodial sentence for James Bowie, the Ottawa criminal defence lawyer who in March was found guilty of extortion, uttering death threats and criminal harassment.
Bowie’s trial revolved around the testimony of two women who detailed a series of abuses at the hands of the lawyer, now suspended by the Law Society of Ontario for his failure to co-operate with its investigations.
In late 2022, a woman named Leanne Aubin told reporters Bowie offered her his legal services in exchange for sexual favours.
And in March of this year, Ontario Court Justice Paul Cooper found that in Bowie’s attempts to clear his name, he threatened to kill Aubin, tried to get another woman to obtain a gun for him, and harassed the other woman when she tried to ghost him.
The judge said Bowie followed the woman’s movements with tracking devices, called her from multiple numbers, watched her house and continued sending her messages after she stopped replying.
While Bowie denied the charges against him, he admitted during his testimony that he twice placed a GPS tracker on the woman’s car and used it to follow her.
The woman cannot be identified because of a publication ban, but a similar ban on Aubin’s name was lifted at her request.
In February, another extortion charge related to Aubin’s sex-for-services allegations was dropped. It came after Aubin’s testimony failed to establish evidence of a direct and expressed threat that Bowie would make an assault charge against her stick if she talked about his proposition.
During his decision this past winter, Cooper said inconsistencies in what Aubin told court and the Law Society about the existence of a message outlining the sex-for-services deal were not material, and that other inconsistencies were minor.
The judge said Bowie failed to assess that “vulnerability is not a synonym for weakness” and found him guilty.
- ‘I need her gone’: Suspended lawyer wanted gun to ‘take care’ of ex-client, trial hears
- Lawyer James Bowie guilty of harassment, extortion, death threats
On Monday, the Crown acknowledged that Bowie, 43, has no prior criminal record and has obeyed a strict curfew while out on bail, with no further charges or breaches.
But Bowie’s offending was serious, the Crown maintained, as it involved the “deliberate and sustained victimization of women.”
“I would submit that Mr Bowie was found guilty of a very dedicated effort to break the law,” said assistant Crown attorney Kerry Watson. “He tried to intervene with a valid complaint process and civil proceedings by threatening and therefore causing fear in his former client.”
Defence seeking conditional sentence
Bowie’s defence lawyer, Eric Granger, argued that a conditional sentence – one served in the community and at least partially under house arrest — would be a more appropriate option than prison.
He didn’t suggest a specific duration but conditional sentences generally last a maximum of two years less a day.
Bowie’s actions stemmed from a desperate bid for self-preservation, Granger said.
“These were the actions of a man who was effectively reaching rock bottom,” Granger said. “Saw his career disappearing on him. Saw everyone in his life disappearing on him.”
Granger pointed to the media attention the case has received and Bowie’s loss of career as a lawyer as significant penalties that he will already face, irrespective of sentence.
On Monday, Bowie also provided a short statement to Justice Cooper, saying he had made peace with the fact he’d be sentenced.
“I want you to know, I have no hard feelings,” Bowie said.
The court also heard victim impact statements from the two women, who outlined the harm of Bowie’s actions and the great fear they still experience.
“I believed Mr. Bowie was there to help me,” said Aubin, who previously won a civil case against the suspended lawyer. “What I didn’t know was that the person I had entrusted with my life saw my vulnerability, not as something to protect, but as something to exploit.”
“You didn’t just break the law, you broke me,” said the woman whose name is protected under the ban.
The Law Society has also made additional allegations against Bowie.
Bail revoked
At the end of Monday’s proceedings, Justice Cooper revoked Bowie’s bail.
It would be “very cruel” if Bowie was granted bail, due the extortionary nature of his offending, Cooper said.
“One can only imagine the disarray in this society if a police officer that had a complaint against them could use their power to extort someone in order to quash that complaint,” he said.
Bowie will now remain in custody until he is sentenced in early September.
@PaulChampLaw Jan 26, 2025:
The Law Society and legal profession as a whole need to answer for how this individual was able to practice for so long without alarms going off. Our brave client overcame her fear to come forward, finally leading to his suspension.It’ll never happen as long as the raping catholic church continues to rule the world with worshippers enabling it, and plunking money in donation plates. The Patriarchy protects rapists/abusers of women and girls, notably if white, male, and especially if lawyers, politicians, police, judges
@melderry:
His charges may have been stayed, but she exposed him and got him suspended. She’s a GD hero.
Douglas Tompson @DTSaskatoon:
There are good lawyers and bad lawyers.
The good lawyers are good in spite of the regulatory body.
The bad lawyers are allowed to continue being bad because of the regulatory body’s natural inclination to protect members and dismiss complaints.
Suspended lawyer James Bowie guilty of all charges, 41-year-old guilty of criminal harassment, extortion, 2 counts of uttering death threats by Kristy Nease, CBC News, Mar 18, 2025
A suspended Ottawa lawyer accused of threatening to kill one former client, and harassing another woman and trying to get her to obtain a firearm for him, has been found guilty of all four counts against him.
James Bowie, 41, was found guilty of criminal harassment, extortion and two counts of uttering death threats.
“Trials are based on evidence, not public opinion,” Ontario Court Justice Paul Cooper told court Tuesday morning.
Dates for the sentencing process have not been set.
Bowie’s defence lawyer Eric Granger, assisted by Hannah Drennan, had argued during the trial that while there’s no doubt Bowie engaged in “unflattering” behaviour, none of it was criminal.
Assistant Crown attorney Kerry Watson argued that by tracking and following a woman, failing to leave her alone after she stopped responding to his calls and texts, and scaring her with his “unhinged” efforts to clear his name, Bowie’s actions were indeed criminal.
The woman cannot be identified because of a publication ban.
Leanne Aubin is the former client of Bowie’s who went public with accusations that he offered his legal services in exchange for oral sex. The Crown withdrew that extrotion charge after Aubin testified that Bowie told her he’d have a criminal charge against her dropped as long as she didn’t tell anyone.
She also inferred that the reverse was true: that Bowie would not get the charge dropped if she spoke up.
The Crown conceded that evidence of a more direct and expressed threat was required.
Granger told court there’s no direct evidence that Bowie threatened to kill Aubin, whose public accusations greatly affected his life. Nor was there direct evidence, he argued, that Bowie asked the other woman for a firearm to “deal with” Aubin — aside from the woman’s own testimony, which Bowie refutes.
- James Bowie takes stand, admits to tracking and following woman, denies scaring her
- Extortion charge against James Bowie dropped as Crown closes its case
Bowie admits to twice placing a GPS tracking device on the woman’s vehicle and using it to follow her. But he denies that it and other behaviours rise to the level of threatening conduct: the woman was not afraid, her fear was not reasonableWTF?? How dare a man say such demeaning crap, never mind that said man is a privileged white lawyer, he did not intend to make her afraid or wasn’t willfully blind or reckless to her fear, and more.
At most, Granger said, Bowie’s actions would have vexed, disquieted or annoyed her.FFS! In my view, Bowie’s lawyer is more obnoxious than he is.
Woman’s fear was real, reasonable, Crown contends
Watson likened Bowie’s version of events to “a plot out of a John Grisham novel,” complete with private investigators following him with drones and bugging his office, and “a duplicitous female character” in possession of “smoking gun” evidence Bowie desperately wanted.(Grisham writes fictional legal thrillers.)
Bowie also engaged in character assassinations of both women who testified against him, as well as Ottawa lawyer Michael Spratt, whom Bowie accused of wanting to kill him and colluding with one of the witnesses.
Watson called the character assassinations evidence of Bowie’s hatred, and that it speaks volumes about his “distorted sense of reality.”
She said Bowie’s stalking, texts and calls to the unidentified woman constituted threatening conduct that have caused her to feel like she has a target on her back and that Bowie could harm her. Watson argued that any other reasonable person would have been scared, too.
And while the woman never explicitly told Bowie to leave her alone or that she didn’t want to help him, trying to ignore Bowie “overwhelmingly communicated” as much, Watson argued.
Lawyer James Bowie testifies in his own defence after Crown drops extortion charge, The trial continues on charges of harassment and uttering threats. Bowie has pleaded not guilty by Aedan Helmer, Feb 04, 2025, Ottawa Citizen
Suspended Ottawa lawyer James Bowie denied all criminal allegations and suggested others were “orchestrating” a plot against him as he took the stand in his own defence Tuesday.
On Monday, the Crown withdrew a criminal charge of extortion following three days of testimony from Leanne Aubin, who told the court that Bowie “propositioned” her in an alleged exchange of legal services for oral sex. The Crown is no longer pursuing that charge.
Bowie has pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges of harassment and uttering threats.
Crown attorney Kerry Watson produced 15 pages of screenshots of a Snapchat conversation between Aubin and Bowie during August and September 2022, when, Aubin testified, Bowie mentioned “the deal” multiple times.
Bowie’s defence lawyer, Eric Granger, said “there is nothing in the Snapchat (transcript) that lays out that deal.”
Bowie’s defence team also produced pages of Facebook messages between Aubin and Bowie and said there was, likewise, no mention of a sex-for-services deal in those exchanges.
After the extortion charge was dropped this week, Bowie’s testimony on Tuesday morning focused on allegations made by a former friend who testified as the Crown’s first witness on Jan. 28.
The woman’s identity is shielded by a publication ban imposed by Ontario Court Justice Paul Cooper. A publication ban on Aubin’s identity was lifted at her request earlier in the legal proceedings.
Bowie denied allegations of harassment and uttering threats and also denied that he asked the other woman about acquiring a gun “to take care of” a former client.
“I never said anything by inference, by suggestion or by plain words to make any threat to any person at any time,” Bowie testified Tuesday.
Bowie said he was severely depressed and suicidal after news broke in the media in the fall of 2022 about allegations of professional misconduct and an investigation by the Law Society of Ontario.
“We were talking about my woes. I had been disgraced in the media. I said I’d rather just blow my brains out.”
The woman was “full of empathy” for Bowie, he testified.
She said she had two guns, Bowie said, but declined to show them or give them to him.
“I won’t give them to you because I want you to live,” the woman told Bowie, according to his testimony.
Bowie testified he “never” had any further discussion about firearms with her and never talked about firearms in any relation to Aubin. He specifically denied saying, “I need her gone,” as the witness had testified earlier at his trial.
He also denied allegations he had asked the woman for an “unregistered” gun.
Bowie said his friendship with the woman “declined” in early 2023 and had become “acrimonious.”
When he was unable to contact her for a period of time, Bowie said he placed a GPS tracking device on her car and followed her to a supermarket parking lot.
“I was desperate to meet with her,” Bowie said under questioning from Granger. “She said she was interested in helping me.”
Bowie said the woman had promised him information that would help clear his name.
He believed Aubin had been working with others who had “hostile, dishonest intentions” and who were “orchestrating” a smear campaign against him, he testified.
The witness told Bowie in April 2023 that she “wanted to participate in the efforts to exonerate me,” Bowie said Tuesday.
Bowie said that he left the parking lot after that conversation and denied that the woman told him to leave her alone.
He said the two sat in the car together and smoked cigarettes and talked for about 10 minutes. She texted him later to ask how Bowie had found her and he admitted to her that he had tracked her with a GPS device.
“Fair enough,” the woman replied, according to Bowie’s testimony.
“I told her, ‘If you want to call it quits, just let me know.’”
Lawyers for James Bowie deny he ‘propositioned’ client for sexual favours, Bowie has pleaded not guilty to harassment, extortion and two counts of uttering threats to Leanne Aubin and likewise pleaded not guilty to harassing a witness by Aedan Helmer, Jan 30, 2025, Ottawa Citizen
The woman at the centre of the criminal case against embattled Ottawa lawyer James Bowie testified Thursday about the “deal” Bowie allegedly offered her in a legal services for sex proposition.
Leanne Aubin took the witness stand on Wednesday and continued her testimony Thursday under cross-examination from Bowie’s defence counsel, Eric Granger and Hannah Drennan.
Aubin said she took screenshots of a portion of the messages she exchanged with Bowie via the Snapchat app in 2022 that outlined the terms of the alleged deal.
She had approached Bowie for legal representation after she had been charged with assault and his name was recommended to her by a friend.
Aubin testified she couldn’t recall exactly when the messages were exchanged, though she also exchanged messages with Bowie through Facebook from June 1 to Aug. 29, 2022.
She testified Thursday that Bowie mentioned “the deal” about five times during the Snapchat exchange, which likely extended through August and into September 2022, according to estimates from Bowie’s defence team.
Under questioning from Granger, Aubin said Bowie “propositioned” her about a payment plan for his legal services.
If she missed a payment, she could instead offer him oral sex, she testified.
Granger pointed out “there is nothing in the Snapchat (transcript) that lays out that deal.”
Bowie’s defence team also produced pages of Facebook messages between Aubin and Bowie and said there was, likewise, no mention of a sex-for-services deal in those exchanges.
Ottawa Citizen
“The deal with Mr. Bowie is that he agreed to allow you to have a payment plan and you could defer payments or delay payments,” Granger suggested to Aubin during cross-examination. “There was never any component of the deal that had to do with oral sex, did it?”
Aubin replied, “Yes, it did.”
She took screenshots of the Snapchat conversations, she testified, because she was worried no one would believe her allegations.
Aubin said she was “disgusted” by the proposal, but continued to exchange messages with Bowie “because I needed his help,” she testified.
Bowie had told Aubin he knew the Crown attorney prosecuting her assault case and would be able to have the charge against her dropped.
She never told Bowie that she eventually reported his alleged misconduct, she said, because she was “afraid of the repercussions.”
“If he could get my charges dropped, he could certainly make them stick,” she testified. “If I was found guilty, I would lose my job, I would lose my house … I would have lost everything in my life.”
Aubin eventually retained Ottawa defence lawyer Michael Spratt, who filed a complaint to the Law Society of Ontario on her behalf.
Spratt was also successful in having Aubin’s assault charge dropped on Sept. 27, 2022.
Aubin said she was initially hesitant about reporting the allegations against Bowie to another Ottawa lawyer because she was afraid the information would be “relayed” to Bowie.
“I was afraid of (Bowie),” Aubin testified. “He had the power to ruin my life.”
She stopped communicating with Bowie in late September 2022 and blocked him from her social-media apps.
Crown prosecutor Kerry Watson questioned Aubin about the 15 screenshots she took of her Snapchat exchanges and said Bowie allegedly offered her cash in exchange for sexual favours.
“I don’t want to do anything I can’t take back,” Aubin wrote to Bowie.
“Look, are you into me? Do you find me attractive?” he wrote back, according to the Crown’s evidence.
“Into you romantically? I’ve never met you,” she replied. “I’d rather pay cash than (oral sex). I don’t want to do anything I regret.”
According to the transcript, Bowie wrote back: “It’s hot for me.”
Aubin replied: “There is nothing about trying to keep my life from falling apart that turns me on.”
Aubin testified she was trying to “fix” her relationship with her boyfriend at the time and didn’t want to “jeopardize” that relationship.
At one point, Bowie sent her his location in Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood.
“Don’t send me money,” he wrote, according to the screenshots. “I’m talking about our deal. I’m propositioning you. And you have a bf (boyfriend), so maybe later.”
Aubin said the alleged proposition made her feel “worthless … like I didn’t matter.”
After retaining a new lawyer and filing a complaint with the Law Society of Ontario, Aubin testified, she was contacted by an Ottawa police detective.
“She told me (Bowie) was trying to purchase a firearm to harm me,” Aubin testified. “I was in disbelief. I just remember feeling like the rest of the world faded away.”
Bowie’s criminal trial was abruptly adjourned in late September and resumed on Jan. 28 with a former friend of Bowie’s testifying that she watched him “descend into madness” in late 2022 and early 2023.
The woman, whose identity is shielded by a publication ban, said Bowie asked for a gun to “take care of” a former client who had accused him of soliciting sex in exchange for legal services.
Bowie has pleaded not guilty to harassment, extortion and two counts of uttering threats to Aubin and likewise pleaded not guilty to harassing the witness.
The allegations against him have not been fully tested in court. His criminal trial is scheduled to resume Monday with Ontario Court Justice Paul Cooper presiding.
***
Carbon Tax King @1loriking:
Who’s his lawyer? Caryma?
Paul Champ @PaulChampLaw:
Same law firm representing Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.
Isis Wise@Libs4Canada:
James Bowie’s reputation for harassment allegedly went back to his university days. He was a predator for years and acted with impunity.
After having me join his Slack channel, he DM’d attempting to get me in a one-on-one, I did not join him as it seemed off. How many others?
TinyDancer @MaroonWendi:
Yep, me too.
@VeldonCoburn:
I can confirm. I did my political science undergrad with this dysfunctional cretin. The most generous description I would give was that he was a pompous, obnoxious narcissist. It was nauseating to be in the same room.
@StewartGreen81:
How did other lawyers not notice his predatory behaviour?There are far too many rapists/abusers in the legal-judicial industry. Peers that wanna rape, and or do rape, keep quiet about fellow rapists, so that they can keep raping with impunity. It’s a disgusting club that rots politics too.
Sharmin R. @srahman24:
You answered your own question – the LSO does nothing without a complaint, and nothing proactive. Consequences are minimal.Usually, none whatsoever for lawyers violating the law and the rules of their profession.
LSO is not alone. I spoke to MB law society about harassment from a lawyer. They explicitly said nothing would happen since he was already suspended.
@Comradekilgore:
Can you tackle the genocide apologist and racist Zionist lawyers next?
‘I need her gone’: Suspended lawyer wanted gun to ‘take care’ of ex-client, trial hears, Woman alleges James Bowie tracked her to 3 locations in April 2023 by Kristy Nease, CBC News, Jan 29, 2025, CBC News
The first witness in the criminal trial of suspended Ottawa defence lawyer James Bowie has testified that he “descended into madness” and became “obsessed” with an ex-client who accused him of extortion in late 2022, to the point of asking for a gun to “take care” of her.
At that time, court heard Bowie was being investigated by the Law Society of Ontario, and that he was the subject of media coverage about his ex-client Leanne Aubin’s allegations that he offered her his legal services in exchange for oral sex.
Bowie, 41, has pleaded not guilty to harassing the Crown’s first witness in the case and trying to get her to obtain a firearm for him, as well as extorting Aubin and threatening to kill her.
The first witness cannot be identified due to a publication ban. A ban on identifying Aubin was previously lifted at her request.
The trial before out-of-town Ontario Court Justice Paul Cooper began in September but sat for only one day. It had to be adjourned to Tuesday because of issues unrelated to the case.
‘He thought he had dirt on me’
Bowie and the first witness were friends who met online in 2020 and starting hanging out more than usual in December 2022. Bowie was embroiled in controversy, and the witness was having immigration issues she wanted advice about, she testified.
In late February 2023 they met at a bar, where Bowie repeatedly suggested that they help each other with their problems and “wouldn’t take no for an answer,” she testified under examination in chief by assistant Crown attorney Kerry Watson in September.
Bowie offered her money and work under the table. She declined because she didn’t want to be indebted to him or put herself in jeopardy, she testified.
He also told her he “knows people I can do sex work for.” He said he knew she was vulnerable, and that he would tell her boyfriend she did sex work in the past — something she’d previously confided to Bowie, the witness testified.
“I was the only person left by him, and he thought he had dirt on me with the sex work, that I would comply with what he was asking,” she told court.
‘She’s out to get me’
Bowie told the witness he wanted a gun for “someone or himself to take care of [Aubin],” she said.
“I need this to be over with. I’m going to lose my life … my licence .. everything. She wants me buried. She’s out to get me. She wants me dead. I need her gone,” the witness testified Bowie told her about Aubin.
The witness was shocked and told him she didn’t want any part of it. After the meeting, she felt scared.
“Up until this point I’ve never seen [Bowie] become unhinged. And seeing someone that I used to personally and professionally respect … become depraved and speaking about wanting to commit a crime, it was a mind f–k to me,” she testified.
She stopped responding to his calls and messages.
Found tracking and GPS devices on her car
On April 2, 2023, she said she saw Bowie outside a supermarket, ducked so he couldn’t see her, then drove to another supermarket using an unconventional route. When she finished shopping at the next location, she once again saw Bowie in the parking lot and he told her they had to talk.
They had a conversation in her car in which she “pinky promised” to stay in touch to appease him, she testified. When she got home she saw him again in a nearby church parking lot.
Suspecting he’d somehow been tracking her, she went to her car and found a tracking device inside a wheel well. She said she texted him and he admitted it was his.
Afterward he “constantly” bombarded her with texts and threats to which she didn’t respond, she testified.
Then, on April 17, 2023, she found another GPS device under her car. That same day a former boss told her someone had called asking for information about her using Bowie’s number. Also that day the witness asked her roommate to call an unknown number someone was harassing her with, and heard Bowie’s voice on the line.
That’s when she broke and “finally” called the police, she told court.
Didn’t help Bowie, didn’t have guns
Under cross-examination by Bowie’s defence lawyer, Eric Granger, on Tuesday, the witness rejected suggestions that she did cocaine with Bowie; talked about or followed through with plans to conduct surveillance on people who had made complaints about him, including Aubin; and kept a revolver and a semi-automatic firearm in a storage locker.
She testified she hadn’t been in rehab, and didn’t lend a friend of Bowie’s a book about interview and interrogation techniques because she doesn’t loan her books out.
She said Bowie raised the topic of taking his own life with a gun, but rejected Granger’s suggestion that Bowie only ever asked for a gun in relation to harming himself. “He’s spoken about a gun on more than one occasion,” she testified.
Granger also suggested that during the conversation in her car on April 2, Bowie said something like: “Hey look, this is getting crazy, I feel like a crazy person, I’m not sure what’s going on here. Do you want to stop?”
She told court Bowie never said that.
Cross-examination continued Wednesday. The witness denied defence suggestions that Bowie had given her one of the tracking devices, and that she had exaggerated Bowie’s harassment to police to get him away from her. She also testified she was convinced Bowie could harm her, and that her fear of him continues.
Under brief re-examination by the Crown, she testified she is adamantly against drugs and is obligated to maintain good moral character for work-related reasons.
The trial continues.
***
Ela Meadows @ElaJMeadows Dec 6, 2022:
As one of the “nine women”
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the first victim who came forward publicly. You made all the difference in ending the confusion and isolation I experienced.
The silence is over.
JamesBowie #ottnews #ottawa
https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/embattled-otta
… Thank you. You aren’t alone. You are absolutely my hero. Your speaking up protected me from the escalation things were gearing towards. with my cPTSD I often have trouble taking in the red flags so it wasn’t until you said something that everything clicked.
Reading back through my message history with him…all the signs were there. The steamrolling boundaries and ignoring no was there. You came forward before he did anything physical to me. So thank you. If you need anything, let me know.
Karoli Star@KaroliStar:
Oh my God I followed this CREEP on twitter during his convoy discussions!!! I feel like I need a shower.
Me too. I live frac’d, so must haul water which is physically daunting for me so showering is only for need not luxury like washing off creeps. I feel like the world needs a shower ’cause of the LSO and other self regulators like AER enabling perps like this and so many more. The harms lawyer self regulators cause to so many by enabling their lawyer rapists is soul and mind numbing, and fucking inhumane.
Thank you Ela for your courage to speak & educate us to this disgusting man. Dropping him from my feed immediately. So sorry for your experience with him.And, because rapist/abusing lawyers are not disbarred, we do not know their evil, it’s hidden and kept secret by the very entity that is responsible to punt them, causing insurmountable harms to people that are already under enough hell and stress and financial costs needing to to hire a lawyer in the first place. It’s an incredibly dark and evil system to navigate without getting abused by shit lawyers, especially those on the board of their fucking self regulator like my ex lead lawyer Murray Klippenstein!
Ela Meadows@ElaJMeadows:
Thank you for your solidarity, but don’t feel bad for not knowing. He used the fact that I was hurt by the occupation to target me. Many predators are excellent at forming a public persona and selecting targets. If they don’t go after you, there’s often no way to know.
Ela Meadows@ElaJMeadows Dec 7, 2022:
Thank you. It isn’t a fun system to navigate.
***
Paul Champ@PaulChampLaw Oct 2024:
Our firm secured $235K in damages and costs against Ottawa lawyer and sexual predator James Bowie.
Sean Flynn@sfyro:
I’m very happy for your client and hope that they are finally able to put this terrible ordeal behind them. What a truly awful situation.
Not a Friend of Tim Houston@JrKokojoe:
Wow. No moral compass on that one.
Congrats his unethical conduct should be enough to get him thrown out of the lawyers club but I have serious doubts the law society will do the right thing.Of course LSO won’t do the right thing, they serve the patriarchy and rapists, including rapists of kids, not the public interest as proclaimed, and LSO is a self regulator of lawyers. What rapist lawyer will remove himself from the Rape Club? LSO has had years to remove Mr. Bowie and didn’t which tells us all we need to know.
@BBallQTat:
Suspended? That’s it?! Please tell me he’s scheduled for disbarment hearing.
@deluracct:
I don’t know how it wound up- has he already lost his license? – but I seem to recall similar situations in his LSO disciplinary case: failure to follow the process and non-compliance with demands for production.
Guynelle Chunkita Banana@ChangritaM:
Wow, congratulations, Mr. Champ. Thanks for the update for a full circle /closure on this situation. … But just a question, he has to pay that ? Like what if he can’t/wont
@bobittyboop:
Stories like this lawyer make me understand how Lorena Bobbitt did what she did, not so shocking anymore
@Nancy_A_L:
What a POS he turned out to be.Seems douche nozzles are common in Canada’s legal-judicial industry. I think self regulation is largely to blame, and too many judges letting rapists off to protect the rapists’ careers and good futures while shaming, blaming and further abusing victims. Rapists in Canada know they are a special protected species.
TinyDancer @MaroonWendi:
Fcking creep!
News Clip at link: Lawyer accused of offering legal services for sexual favours ordered to pay former client $235,000 by Katie Griffin, oct 28, 2024, CTV News Ottawa
Warning: some may find details in this story disturbing
Suspended Ottawa lawyer James Bowie has been ordered to pay $235,000 in damages to a former client after he repeatedly suggested she pay for his legal services with oral sex and released personal details about her online after the allegations were reported by CTV News Ottawa.
In an Oct. 11 decision, Superior Court Justice Heather Williams writes that Bowie’s “campaign to exploit the circumstances of this vulnerable young client for his own gratification followed by his public disclosure of her personal circumstances and confidential information amount to a staggering breach of the trust obligations a lawyer owes to a client.”
The client, Leanne Aubin, filed a lawsuit against Bowie relating to incidents in 2022.
Aubin reached out to Bowie about representation in May 2022 after she was charged with assault—charges that have since been dropped.
After agreeing to work out a payment plan, Bowie suggested he and Aubin communicate on Snapchat, a platform where messages are deleted.
Williams found Bowie offered to accept oral sex in lieu of money for his legal services but Aubin said no.
The court document states Bowie “sent the plaintiff a photograph of his penis…. He asked the plaintiff if she found him attractive and told her he was propositioning her. He said he found the idea of trading oral sex for legal services to be ‘hot.’”
Bowie told the plaintiff not to tell anyone about their Snapchat communications and that if she did, it would “jeopardize the defence to her criminal charge,” the document states, and that because Bowie knew the Crown attorney assigned to her case, he “hinted that this could help him arrange for the charge against her to be dismissed.”
In late August 2022, the plaintiff told the defendant she was in “extreme mental distress and was having suicidal thoughts.”
“When this vulnerable client later told the defendant that she was having mental health issues and feeling suicidal, he recommended alcohol, drugs and the sex with him that she had repeatedly said she was not interested in,” Williams writes. “After the plaintiff complained about the defendant to the [Law Society of Ontario], he took to social media to defend himself. He identified the plaintiff, openly discussed their confidential lawyer-client relationship and disclosed personal information about the plaintiff.”
Bowie was noted in default twice, meaning he never filed a statement of defence.
Williams’ decision references the Rules of Civil Procedure that states, “a defendant who has been noted in default is deemed to admit all of the factual allegations in the statement of claim.”
“This has been a long time coming for our client, who feels vindicated by this decision,” said Aubin’s lawyer Christine Johnson. “It’s not easy speaking out against someone in a position of power – Leanne should be really proud of the courage that she showed by reporting Mr. Bowie’s misconduct.”
Bowie was ordered to pay Aubin $75,000 for breach of fiduciary duty, $65,000 in damages for breaches under Ontario’s Human Rights Code, $30,000 for defamation and $25,000 in punitive damages. He was also ordered to pay $40,000 toward Aubin’s legal costs.
Criminal charges
Bowie was charged in April 2023 with extortion, harassment and two counts of uttering threats. Those allegations have not been tested in court.
“Given that Mr. Bowie still has related matters before the courts, it would not be appropriate for him or I to comment at this time,” said Bowie’s lawyer Eric Granger who was not involved in the civil case.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health there are a number of ways to get help, including by calling or texting Suicide Crisis Helpline at 9-8-8. A list of local crisis centres is also available here
Suspended lawyer must pay $235K for ‘staggering’ breach of trust in sex-for-services proposal, Superior Court judge says James Bowie’s actions an ‘offense to the court’s sense of decency’ by Kristy Nease, Oct 11, 2024, CBC News
Suspended Ottawa lawyer James Bowie has been ordered to pay a former client — and plaintiff in a civil case against him — $235,000 after proposing she pay for his legal services with oral sex and disclosing personal details about her online after her allegations garnered media coverage.Just another sleazy douche nozzle fucking Canadian lawyer, enabled by his self regulator for years. Why the fuck was Bowie not punted from the bar years ago and worse, why is he still not punted out now?
In an Oct. 11 decision, Superior Court Justice Heather Williams wrote that Bowie’s actions were “shocking” and an “offense to the court’s sense of decency.”
“The lawyer-client relationship is founded on trust. That trust is why persons can and do confidently bring their most intimate problems and all manner of matters, great or small, to their lawyers,” Williams’s decision reads.
“In my view, the defendant’s campaign to exploit the circumstances of this vulnerable young client for his own gratification followed by his public disclosure of her personal circumstances and confidential information amount to a staggering breach of the trust obligations a lawyer owes to a client.”
Williams ordered Bowie to pay Leanne Aubin $75,000 for breach of fiduciary duty, $65,000 in damages, $30,000 for defamation and $25,000 in punitive damages.
She also ordered him to pay $40,000 toward Aubin’s legal costs.
Neither side immediately responded to requests for comment late Friday.
Did not defend himself
Bowie did not mount a defence to Aubin’s lawsuit.
In an affidavit, he wrote he has been left in “crippling emotional distress” by the allegations against him, the “significant media coverage” that followed and the “social, professional and financial fallout.”
That distress and his mental health struggles have made adhering to deadlines “extremely difficult,” he added.
- New sexual harassment claims revealed in takeover of suspended lawyer’s practice
- Lawyer accused in lawsuit of sexually harassing ex client still hasn’t submitted a defence
Bowie was noted in default twice for failing to mount a defence, and his one-time lawyer was removed from the record late last year.
Williams’s decision in Aubin’s lawsuit was the result of a motion for summary judgment filed by her lawyers in light of Bowie’s failure to mount a defence and a subsequent hearing in January that Bowie did not attend.
Lawyer overcome during proceeding
At the hearing, which CBC attended, Aubin’s lawyer Christine Johnson teared up while reading Snapchat messages between her client and Bowie.
Aubin sat in the gallery along the wall with a supporter.
“I told you before, I’d rather pay [for legal services with] cash than head, [which is] a reference to oral sex,” Johnson said, reading a message Aubin had sent to Bowie. “Not something I’ve ever done before. And as much as I’m desperate, I don’t want to do anything I’ll regret, at least until I know [my ex partner] isn’t coming back.”
“It’s hot for me,” Bowie replied.
“There’s nothing about trying to keep my life from crumbling that turns me on, lol,” Aubin replied.
Johnson tried to continue reading the messages, but stopped mid-sentence. Williams asked her if she needed a minute.
“I’m OK. Sorry, I didn’t expect to become overcome with emotion. I’m OK,” Johnson said, and continued.
A few minutes later, Williams ordered a five-minute recess.
Became a client in 2022
Aubin came to know Bowie when she needed a criminal lawyer for the first time and a friend recommended him.
Aubin had been charged with assault with a weapon after she threw a plastic beer pitcher at a man during a 2022 dispute about Justin Trudeau and Fidel Castro at an Ottawa bar. The man had called her a sexist slur and had made a hurtful comment about her family.
She threw the pitcher in retaliation, and then he picked up her smartphone and threw it at her face, breaking a bone, according to her affidavit.
Police charged her with assault with a weapon and didn’t charge the man with anything, even though she was seriously injured and he was not, according to her affidavit.
The charges against Aubin were later dropped after she went to a different lawyer.
Repeatedly declined offer to pay with sex
In her decision, Williams wrote that when Aubin proposed a payment plan for his legal services, Bowie “knew that he did not want a record” of what he was going to do next and suggested they communicate on Snapchat, a social media website where messages are deleted.
Eventually Bowie offered to accept oral sex instead of money, Williams found. Aubin said no, but he continued bringing it up, told Aubin he was propositioning her, and sent her a photograph of his penis.
(The day of the hearing in January, Johnson told court she brought a copy of the “dick pic” enclosed in a sealed envelope, and that she could give it to the court if Williams so desired, but that she was also trying to spare Williams from seeing it. Williams decided it wasn’t necessary.)
“When this vulnerable client later told the defendant that she was having mental health issues and feeling suicidal, he recommended alcohol, drugs and the sex with him that she had repeatedly said she was not interested in,” Williams wrote in her decision.
“After the plaintiff complained about the defendant to the [Law Society of Ontario], he took to social media to defend himself. He identified the plaintiff, openly discussed their confidential lawyer-client relationship and disclosed personal information about the plaintiff.”
Criminal trial adjourned, postponed
Bowie is facing criminal charges in connection to Aubin’s allegations, as well as other alleged offences.
His judge-alone trial in Ottawa’s Ontario Court of Justice started last month, but had to be adjourned and then postponed after sitting for one day due to issues his defence lawyer, Eric Granger, was having.
Granger told CBC those issues have nothing to do with Bowie’s case.
Bowie’s next appearance on the criminal allegations is scheduled for January.
They have not been proven, and he remains innocent of them.
New sexual harassment claims revealed in takeover of suspended lawyer’s practice, Law Society of Ontario appointed trustee of James Bowie’s business for public’s protection by Kristy Nease, CBC News, May 16, 2024, CBC News
Ontario’s Superior Court has ordered the province’s law society to take over suspended Ottawa lawyer James Bowie’s practice, and court documents filed in support of the move contain previously unheard allegations that Bowie propositioned a client sexually, tried to force himself on her, exposed himself and performed a sexual act in front of her.
Details of the 2018 sexual harassment allegations — which have not been tested in court and do not appear to be the subject of any criminal charges — came to light in court documents filed in Toronto by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) in its bid to be made trustee of Bowie’s business, its records and any funds.
Those documents show Bowie is the subject of 12 law society investigations, including six allegations of sexual harassment.
Bowie has been suspended from practising law since December 2022 for failing to co-operate with LSO investigations into alleged shabby business practices.
He was suspended again in July 2023 for not co-operating with an LSO investigation into allegations that he offered a client, Leanne Aubin, legal services in exchange for sexual acts.
Criminal trial set for September
Aubin went to police, and Bowie’s resulting criminal trial is set to be heard this September.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of extorting Aubin and threatening to kill her on two separate occasions, as well as harassing another woman and trying to get her to obtain a firearm for him.
Bowie is also being sued by Aubin for about $325,000.
He faces the possibility of the lawsuit being handled in court without his involvement because he has not mounted a proper defence.
A publication ban had earlier prevented CBC from naming Aubin, but Ontario Court Justice Marlyse Dumel lifted the ban in April on Aubin’s request.
Trusteeship ordered earlier this month
On May 4, Superior Court Justice Cory Gilmore granted the law society’s application to be made trustee of Bowie’s business and close it down, court records show.
Gilmore found it was right in light of Bowie’s suspensions, and the fact that some of his former clients have been asking the society for help to get trust funds and other property back from him, among other things.
Bowie had been required to wind up his practice as a result of his suspensions. But in an affidavit, an LSO investigator wrote that Bowie appeared to still be representing someone in Ottawa’s small claims court in January 2023.
The investigator added that other clients of Bowie’s were contacting the society to ask about their files and funds held in trust.
It suggested that Bowie “did not comply with his obligations as a suspended lawyer and notify clients nor transfer all client files” to another lawyer, something Bowie declared he had done in an earlier compliance report to the LSO, the investigator wrote.
As well, his law practice website was still active in January 2023 and he was still representing himself as a “barrister and solicitor” on his LinkedIn page, the investigator wrote. (The website is now “under construction” and the LinkedIn page is no longer visible.)
Bowie did not fight the trusteeship or respond to the LSO’s allegations — including sexual harassment — in court.
His lawyer appeared on his behalf but she didn’t have any instructions from him, Gilmore wrote in his decision.
Kathleen Kealey, who remains on the record as defence counsel for Bowie on the law society matters, said by phone Wednesday that she was not in a position to make any comment.
CBC has been unable to reach Bowie. A business phone number listed in court documents for him is no longer in service, and he has not responded to emails.
Search of Bowie’s data also authorized by court
On May 5, Gilmore authorized the LSO to conduct an electronic search of data already seized from Bowie’s electronic devices in 2022.
Specifically, the society wants to look up a long list of words and phrases relating to sexual acts, illegal drugs, consuming illegal drugs and more.
Some of the approved search terms include: “proposition,” “cocaine,” and “do murder.”
The law society also wants to search all of Bowie’s data for records of 13 people — including an Ottawa defence lawyer — and anyone else whom Bowie might have communicated with using the ordered search words and phrases.
Bowie felt the proposed search was “generally overbroad and all-encompassing of my entire life,” he wrote in an email to an LSO investigator in January 2023.
He also wrote that he wasn’t being given enough time to consider the request, considering that he was unwell and sleeping during some afternoons.
He requested a month to deal with it.
Nearly a year later, in November 2023, a law society investigator wrote in an affidavit that there had been “no progress in reaching mutually agreeable search terms” for the seized data.
Has claimed mental health struggles
Bowie did not go into more detail about his unwell state in his email to the investigator.
But in an affidavit filed for proceedings in the lawsuit against him, he wrote he’s been left in “crippling emotional distress” by all the allegations against him, the “significant media coverage” that followed, and the “social, professional and financial fallout.”
He also wrote that his distress and mental health struggles have made adhering to deadlines “extremely difficult.”
In his decision, Gilmore wrote that the authorized terms were screened by a committee to make sure they weren’t overly intrusive and to protect solicitor-client privilege.
“Given that the allegations against [Bowie] are broad, serious and in the public realm, it is in the best interest of the public that [his] imaged data be searched in accordance with the approved search terms,” Gilmore wrote.
The judge also noted that the initial search and seizure order for Bowie’s electronic devices was “the first of its kind.”
Beforehand, that section of the Law Society Act had only been used to get financial institutions to produce records, Gilmore wrote.
Offered another client sex, cocaine, law society alleges
The six sexual harassment complaints being investigated by the law society were made by clients, members of the public, and a fellow licencee (either a lawyer or paralegal), according to the affidavit of one of their investigators.
The society is also investigating whether Bowie violated solicitor-client privilege by discussing Aubin in a live chat on a social media website, after details about her allegations against Bowie were made public by CTV and the Ottawa Citizen reported his suspension.
The previously unheard allegations involving a different client of Bowie’s were made in December 2022, according to a document from the same month written by an LSO manager who requested an investigation.
According to the document, the complainant — whose name is redacted — alleges that after she retained Bowie on a criminal matter in August 2018, he offered her sex and cocaine, “tried to force himself on her physically/sexually,” masturbated in front of her, asked her personal questions about her body, and showed up at her house twice, “the second time uninvited.”
In her complaint to the law society, the woman included a written record she made in September 2018 about what happened, the document reads.
As for the four remaining sexual harassment complaints, no supporting documentation was filed by the law society.
In each of those investigations, the society is alleging that Bowie “may have engaged in sexual harassment, may have failed to conduct himself with honour and/or integrity, and may have conducted his personal/private affairs in such a manner as to bring discredit upon the profession.”
Other allegations being investigated by the LSO include complaints from multiple clients that they paid Bowie to represent them, and that he eventually stopped responding to them and failed to account for how the money had been spent.
Again, Bowie has not responded to the society’s allegations in court.
Criminal charges will be ‘vigorously defended’
Bowie’s criminal lawyer, Eric Granger, wrote in a statement Wednesday that he is not in a position to comment on the LSO matters.
As for the criminal case involving Aubin, Bowie “denies those allegations and they have been set for trial where they will be vigorously defended,” Granger wrote.
“It would be inappropriate to comment further while that matter remains before the courts. It would be equally inappropriate for Mr. Bowie to comment on these matters while he has outstanding matters before the courts.”
Aubin, meanwhile, is “extremely troubled to learn about the multiple ongoing LSO investigations against Mr. Bowie involving allegations of sexual harassment,” her lawyer Christine Johnson wrote in a statement Tuesday.
“She hopes that the LSO’s investigations into these complaints proceed as quickly as possible,” Johnson wrote.
***
***
Paul Champ@PaulChampLaw Dec 6, 2023:
The sad saga of Ottawa lawyer James Bowie continues. He appears utterly oblivious to the distress he continues to inflict on the vulnerable woman he purported to represent as a lawyer. In court on Monday, he said he would likely never practice law again.
joemorin73 (He/Him) @joemorin73:
If he continues to default, the article mentions that the case will proceed without his involvement. What are the potential outcomes?
Paul Champ@PaulChampLaw:
Significant damages for breach of the Human Rights Code, breach of fiduciary duty and defamation.
Christopher Byrne @CBinVAN:
“The consequences of my terrible behaviour are causing me stress” is a hell of a defence.
Masked, Flu & 6xVaxxed@Canadianmouse2:
After what he did, him not being able to practice law ever again is a bad thing?
Kristina (she/her)@kristinaEBP:
He’s basically doing the ‘you can’t fire me, I quit’ thing, but in painfully slow motion
Isis Wise @Libs4Canada:
Bowie’s harassment went back to his university days. It likely escalated as his position in society grew. No sympathy for him whatsoever.
Lawyer accused in lawsuit of sexually harassing ex client still hasn’t submitted a defence, Criminal trial on separate allegations of extortion, harassment, uttering death threats set for next fall by Kristy Nease, JAN 24, 2024
An Ottawa lawyer accused in a lawsuit of sexually harassing and defaming a former client has been noted to be in default for a second time, and faces the possibility of his case being dealt with without his involvement.
The $325,000 lawsuit against James Bowie was filed in January. The plaintiff alleges Bowie sent her unsolicited nude pictures, offered to consume alcohol and illegal drugs with her, and offered his legal services in exchange for “oral sex every two weeks” via messages on the social media platform Snapchat.
Her statement of claim said she was “deeply disturbed” and uninterested in sexual relations with Bowie, but “felt obliged to continue the solicitor-client relationship” due to concerns about her criminal matter, which has since been dropped.
It also stated the woman confided in Bowie about her financial struggles, mental health and relationship troubles.
The woman detailed the same allegations in a complaint to the Law Society of Ontario and attached screenshots of Snapchat conversations with Bowie. Bowie is currently suspended indefinitely from practising law.
Request for stay, sealing order not considered
Bowie has not yet filed a statement of defence in the lawsuit against him, and was notified that he was in default for the first time on March 28.
At a Superior Court hearing in September, Bowie asked a judge for several things, including:
- The lawsuit to be stayed — put on hold — until separate criminal charges he’s facing are dealt with. (In April, he was criminally accused of extorting and threatening to kill the former client currently suing him, as well as harassing another woman and trying to get her to obtain a firearm for him. CBC is not naming either woman, as their identities are protected by publication bans.)
- A seal on the evidence he’s provided in the lawsuit so far and a prohibition on its use in any other proceedings against him.
- A motion to set aside his first notice of default.
Justice Heather Williams ruled that because Bowie was in default, he didn’t have the right to ask for anything except to have the default notice set aside.
Bowie in ‘crippling emotional distress’: affidavit
In an affidavit, Bowie argued he’s been left in “crippling emotional distress” by all the allegations against him, the “significant media coverage” that followed, and the “social, professional and financial fallout.”
He wrote that his distress and mental health struggles have made adhering to deadlines “extremely difficult.”
A hearing took place on Sept. 22, and six days later Justice Williams ruled in Bowie’s favour. Williams said that while the medical evidence Bowie provided is “limited and vague,” she believed he “has mental health issues and that he has been struggling.”
She didn’t think his mental health necessarily prevented him from defending himself, but said he should be given the opportunity “if he truly intends to do so.”
Still hasn’t filed statement of defence
Bowie was given 30 days to file a statement of defence that adheres to the rules for civil procedure, and pay $5,000 in “costs thrown away” by the plaintiff’s counsel.
He did not comply with those orders and was noted to be in default a second time on Oct. 31.
At a case conference on Dec. 4, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Christine Johnson, said they’re moving ahead with a motion for default judgment. If they win that motion, a judge could rule on the merits of the case without Bowie’s involvement.
Johnson said it’s expected to be heard sometime in the new year.
Criminal trial set for September
Bowie’s criminal case continues to make its way through court. In an email Tuesday, Bowie wrote that it’s set for trial and he’s confident he’ll be acquitted.
“The idea that I have committed these offences is ridiculous,” he wrote.
On Tuesday in court, the Crown elected to proceed with the criminal charges against Bowie by indictment. A five-day trial in Ontario court was scheduled for September 2024. Bowie is being represented by defence lawyer Eric Granger.
In January, Bowie and his then counsel David Shiller filed a notice of libel against CTV News and Bell Media, which said Bowie would seek damages, interest and costs in a proceeding he would commence. CBC has been unable to locate any court records in relation to such a lawsuit.
Reached by phone Tuesday, Shiller said he was no longer representing Bowie and could not answer any questions.
None of the criminal or civil allegations against Bowie have been proven in court.
Lawyer accused of sexually harassing ex-client still hasn’t submitted a defence, Separate criminal trial on allegations of extortion, harassment, threats set for next fall by Kristy Nease, CBC News, Dec 06, 2023
A suspended Ottawa lawyer accused in a lawsuit of sexually harassing and defaming a former client has been noted to be in default for a second time and faces the possibility of the case being decided without his involvement.
The $325,000 lawsuit against James Bowie was filed in January.
The plaintiff alleges Bowie sent her unsolicited nude pictures, offered to consume alcohol and illegal drugs with her and offered his legal services in exchange for “oral sex every two weeks” via messages on the social media platform Snapchat.
Her statement of claim said she was “deeply disturbed” and uninterested in sexual relations with Bowie, but “felt obliged to continue the solicitor-client relationship” due to concerns about her criminal matter, which has since been dropped.
It also stated the woman confided in Bowie about her mental health and financial and relationship troubles.
The woman detailed the same allegations in a complaint to the Law Society of Ontario and attached screenshots of Snapchat conversations with Bowie. Bowie is currently suspended indefinitely from practising law.
Request for stay, sealing order not considered
Bowie has not yet filed a statement of defence in the lawsuit against him and was notified that he was in default for the first time on March 28.
At a Superior Court hearing in September, Bowie asked a judge for several things, including:
The lawsuit to be stayed — put on hold — until separate criminal charges he's facing are dealt with. In April, he was criminally charged after another woman accused him of harassing and extorting her, as well as uttering death threats against the woman who is suing him. There are publication bans on both women's names.
A seal on the evidence he's provided in the lawsuit so far and a prohibition on its use in any other proceedings against him.
A motion to set aside his first notice of default.Justice Heather Williams ruled that because Bowie was in default, he didn’t have the right to ask for anything except to have the default notice set aside.
Bowie in ‘crippling emotional distress’: affidavit
In an affidavit, Bowie argued he’s been left in “crippling emotional distress” by all the allegations against him, the “significant media coverage” that followed and the “social, professional and financial fallout.”
He wrote that his distress and mental health struggles have made adhering to deadlines “extremely difficult.”
A hearing took place on Sept. 22 and six days later Justice Williams ruled in Bowie’s favour. Williams said that while the medical evidence Bowie provided is “limited and vague,” she believed he “has mental health issues and that he has been struggling.”
She didn’t think his mental health necessarily prevented him from defending himself, but said he should be given the opportunity “if he truly intends to do so.”
Still hasn’t filed statement of defence
Bowie was given 30 days to file a statement of defence that adheres to the rules for civil procedure and pay $5,000 in “costs thrown away” by the plaintiff’s counsel.
He did not comply with those orders and was noted to be in default a second time on Oct. 31.
At a case conference on Monday, the plaintiff’s lawyer Christine Johnson said they’re moving ahead with a motion for default judgment. If they win that motion, a judge could rule on the merits of the case without Bowie’s involvement.
Johnson said it’s expected to be heard sometime in the new year.
Criminal trial set for September
Bowie’s criminal case continues to make its way through court.
On Tuesday, the Crown elected to proceed with the criminal charges by indictment. A five-day trial in Ontario court was scheduled for September 2024. Bowie is being represented by defence lawyer Eric Granger.
In an email Tuesday, Bowie wrote he’s confident he’ll be acquitted.
“The idea that I have committed these offences is ridiculous,” he wrote.
In January, Bowie and his then counsel David Shiller filed a notice of libel against CTV News and Bell Media, which said Bowie would seek damages, interest and costs in a proceeding he would commence. CBC has been unable to locate any court records in relation to such a lawsuit.
Reached by phone Tuesday, Shiller said he was no longer representing Bowie and could not answer any questions.
None of the criminal or civil allegations against Bowie have been proven in court.
***
Alheli Picazo@a_picazo June 5, 2023:
How many people heard or knew of Bowie’s alleged misconduct, but said/did nothing? 
In my experience, lawyers and judges (both arrogantly self-regulated, like the law-violating raping oil, gas ‘n frac industry) remain a boys’ club – they protect their own, notably rapists (even their self regulator, the LSO, licences known convicted pedophiles to keep rapists going strong and I expect to please raping religions and Israel).
Amir Attaran (@email hidden; JavaScript is required)@profamirattaran:
any lawyer who extorts clients for a blow job needs to see the inside of a prison cell for a very long time.
Lance McClean@LanceMcClean Jun 4:
I can’t think of a better argument in favour of abolishing the designation. If you can attempt to interfere with the admin of Justice and still be given a KC the designation has lost all meaning
@email hidden; JavaScript is required@LouroAlfredo Jun 3:
You’re not going to make me believe that someone [Kaycee Madu] who being Justice Minister phones the chief of police to try and get a traffic ticket reversed becomes a KC by anything other than political influence.
Frances M. Wood@FrankieWoodLaw Mar 29, 2023:
“We (lawyers) have lost our way. We eat our young.”
Strong warning from Justice Strathy about the need for culture change in our profession at #LSOFamilySummit
Ottawa lawyer James Bowie charged with new count of extortion, The suspended lawyer is already facing charges of harassment, extortion and two counts of uttering threats to a woman by Gary Dimmock, Jun 05, 2023, Ottawa Citizen
Embattled Ottawa lawyer James Bowie was back in court again last week to face a new charge of extorting a former client for oral sex.
The suspended lawyer is already facing criminal charges of harassment, extortion and two counts of uttering threats to a woman.
Bowie, 39, is also being sued for $325,000 in a sexual harassment and defamation lawsuit filed by a former client.
In the statement of claim, a 29-year-old woman struggling with finances, says Bowie offered a “deal” that would have her performing oral sex every two weeks to pay off her legal bill.
The former client, “deeply disturbed” by the proposition, also said Bowie sent her an unsolicited image of his penis, according to the claim filed by Ottawa lawyer Christine Johnson.
The lawsuit — which includes breach of confidence — matches the narrative this newspaper previously reported after the former client filed a complaint with the Law Society of Ontario.
Bowie is also accused of threatening the former client to keep quiet.
“(Bowie) advised the (client) not to tell anyone about their Snapchat exchanges and warned that, if she did, she would jeopardize her criminal defence and could end up getting convicted,” the claim states.
More, the claim says, Bowie “bragged” to the client about knowing the Crown attorney assigned to the file and suggested that this would help her in getting the charges tossed.
Bowie is suspended from practice after failing to co-operate in three unrelated investigations. Bowie, accused in open court of predatory behaviour, believed he was famous on Twitter for his commentary on the Freedom Convoy. Bowie said his social media account was more time-consuming than his legal practice and was just too busy to reply to the law society.
“I’ve just been busier than I’ve ever been in my life,” Bowie told a law society investigator in a March 9 email.
Bowie was suspended last year for professional misconduct. Law Society Tribunal chair Murray Chitra ordered Bowie to cease practising law immediately until he answers fully and appropriately to public complaints that he gave poor service and ghosted clients when they demanded a refund.
Bowie also practised law while under suspension in 2022. Bowie had multiple short-term administrative suspensions, according to an affidavit filed by a law society investigator.
While those complaints were addressed at a disciplinary hearing last year, Bowie is now waiting for the results of another law society investigation about allegations that Bowie offered legal services for sex, invited the client to consume lines of cocaine and then sent the client an unsolicited picture of his penis.
In the law society complaint, reviewed by this newspaper, the former client attached screenshots of Snapchat messages to support her claim.
The messages included references to snorting cocaine, sex for legal services and wine.
The Snapchat messages appear to show that his client at the time said doing cocaine wouldn’t help her mental health.
A message from a Bowie account replied: “Maybe we should … I find it tends to get the party started … Coke, wine … fun.”
A message from a Bowie account replied on Snapchat: “I’m talking about our deal, what we were talking about before, and I’m propositioning you.”
The client said she didn’t want to perform oral sex. A message from the purported Bowie account then asked: “Do you find me attractive?”
“Into you? Romantically?” “I’ve never met you,” the client appears to reply on Snapchat.
The client told this newspaper in December that “it made me feel powerless and also ashamed that all I was worth was sexual favours. It led to depression, time off work, lost weight, stress and suicidal.”
In the complaint to the law society, she said, “(Bowie) has caused me trauma and I am worried he will do the same to other vulnerable people. He should not be in a position of power or trust.”
None of the criminal or civil allegations have been proved, nor tested in court.
Bowie’s lawyer, Eric Granger, noted that his client doesn’t have a criminal record and is presumed innocent of all charges.
“The appropriate forum to address criminal charges is the courtroom, which is where Mr. Bowie will be vigorously defended against any and all charges. It would be inappropriate to comment further while this matter remains before the courts.”
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Man charged with harassing a woman, police seeking other victims Press Release by Ottawa Police Service, April 24, 2023
Un homme est inculpé de harcèlement à l’endroit d’une femme; on recherche d’autres victimes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, April 24, 2023 5:45 pm
(Ottawa) — Ottawa Police Service investigators charged a man following a harassment investigation.
James BOWIE, 39 years old, of Ottawa, was arrested yesterday. He has been charged with:
- Harassment by combination of prohibited conduct
- Uttering threats/death or bodily harm (x 2)
- Extortion
He appeared in court today.
Investigators believe there could be other victims and are releasing his photo as he may have used aliases.
Investigators will respect a victim’s wish to pursue or not pursue an investigation or criminal charges. The reporting of incidents of violence against women to police is key in identifying suspects and determining crime trends.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Ottawa Police Service tip line at 613-236-1222, extension 5760. Tips may also be sent electronically to email hidden; JavaScript is required
Anonymoustips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477(TIPS).
– 30 –
CONTACT:
Media Relations Section
Tel: 613-236-1222, ext. 5366
***
Ottawa lawyer James Bowie charged with harassment, extortion, uttering threats, Bowie, 39, appeared in court Monday afternoon where he formally faced the criminal charges after he was arrested by Ottawa police Sunday by Aedan Helmer, Apr 24, 2023, Ottawa Citizen
Why the hell did this take so long? How many women harmed?
Police have charged Ottawa criminal defence lawyer James Bowie with harassment, extortion and two counts of uttering threats to a woman.
Bowie, 39, appeared in court Monday afternoon where he formally faced the criminal charges after he was arrested by Ottawa police Sunday.
Police said in a media release that they believe there could be other victims and circulated a photo of Bowie, “as he may have used aliases,” police said.
Bowie has also been named in a $325,000 lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and defamation filed by a former client and in a complaint to the Law Society of Ontario.
The complainant in the criminal case is not the same woman who is currently suing Bowie.
The identities of both women are shielded by a customary publication ban.
A statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court by the former client, a 29-year-old woman struggling with finances, stated Bowie offered a “deal” that would have her performing oral sex every two weeks to pay off her legal bill.
The former client was “deeply disturbed” by the proposition, according to the statement of claim.
The lawsuit also includes accusations of breach of confidence and allegations that Bowie threatened his former client to keep quiet.
The allegations contained in the lawsuit match the narrative this newspaper previously reported after the former client filed a complaint with the Law Society of Ontario.
Bowie was suspended last year for professional misconduct and was ordered to cease practising law immediately until he answers fully and appropriately to public complaints that he gave poor service and ghosted clients when they demanded a refund.
Bowie also practised law while under suspension in 2022. Bowie had multiple short-term administrative suspensions, according to an affidavit filed by a law society investigator.
While those complaints were addressed at a disciplinary hearing last year, Bowie is now waiting for the results of another law society investigation about allegations that he offered legal services for sex, among other allegations.
Those allegations have not been tested in court.
Bowie was released from custody Monday afternoon under a number of conditions and was ordered to live with a surety and post a bond. He is prohibited from owning weapons and is prohibited from driving while his licence is under suspension.
He is due to return to court on May 30.
— With files from Gary Dimmock
Embattled Ottawa lawyer James Bowie sued for sexual harassment, A statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court by the former client stated Bowie offered a “deal” that would have her performing oral sex every two weeks to pay off her legal bill by Gary Dimmock, Feb 21, 2023
Disgraced Ottawa lawyer James Bowie is being sued for $325,000, plus damages, in a sexual harassment and defamation lawsuit filed by a former client.
A statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court by the former client, a 29-year-old woman struggling with finances, stated Bowie offered a “deal” that would have her performing oral sex every two weeks to pay off her legal bill.
The former client, “deeply disturbed” by the proposition, also said Bowie sent her an unsolicited image of his penis, according to the statement of claim filed by Ottawa lawyer Christine Johnson.
The lawsuit — which includes breach of confidence — matches the narrative this newspaper previously reported after the former client filed a complaint with the Law Society of Ontario. The suspended lawyer is also accused of threatening his client to keep quiet.
“(Bowie) advised the (client) not to tell anyone about their Snapchat exchanges and warned that, if she did, she would jeopardize her criminal defence and could end up getting convicted,” according to the statement of claim.
Bowie also “bragged to the (client) about knowing the Crown Attorney assigned to the file and suggested that this would help her in getting the charges against her dismissed,” according to the statement of claim.
Born in 1983, Bowie remains under a law-society investigation that he offered legal services in exchange for oral sex.
In the law-society complaint, reviewed by this newspaper, the former client attached screenshots of Snapchat messages to support her claim.
The messages included references to snorting cocaine, sex for legal services and wine.
The Snapchat messages appear to show that his client at the time said doing cocaine wouldn’t help her mental health.
A message from a Bowie account replied: “Maybe we should … I find it tends to get the party started … Coke, wine .. fun.”
A message from a Bowie account replied on Snapchat: “I’m talking about our deal, what we were talking about before, and I’m propositioning you.”
The client said she didn’t want to perform oral sex. A message from the purported Bowie account then asked: “Do you find me attractive?” “Into you? Romantically? I’ve never met you,” the client appears to reply on Snapchat.
“It made me feel powerless and also ashamed that all I was worth was sexual favours. It led to depression, time off work, lost weight, stress and suicidal,” she told this newspaper in December.
In the complaint to the law society, she said, “(Bowie) has caused me trauma and I am worried he will do the same to other vulnerable people. He should not be in a position of power or trust.”In my experience, neither should my ex lead lawyer Murray Klippenstein, and, neither should the LSO, his self regulator, whom he was suing while being on the Board of same which clearly shows us how incestuous it is for lawyers to self-regulate.
Bowie is suspended from practice after failing to co-operate in three unrelated investigations. Bowie, accused in open court of predatory behaviour, believed he was famous on Twitter after exploiting the convoy protest. He garnered many Twitter followers and managing his social media account was more time-consuming than his limited legal practice.
Bowie said he was just too busy to reply to the law society.
“I’ve just been busier than I’ve ever been in my life,” Bowie told a law society investigator in a March 9 email.
Bowie was suspended last year for professional misconduct. Law Society Tribunal chair Murray Chitra ordered Bowie to cease practising law immediately until he answers fully and appropriately to public complaints that he gave poor service and ghosted clients when they demanded a refund.
Bowie also practised law while under suspension in 2022. Bowie had multiple short-term administrative suspensions, according to an affidavit filed by a law society investigator.
While those complaints were addressed at a disciplinary hearing last year, Bowie is now waiting for the results of another law society investigation about allegations that Bowie offered legal services for sex, invited the client to crush lines of cocaine and then sent the client an unsolicited picture of his penis.
The defamation part of the lawsuit has to do with the night Bowie went on a podcast and portrayed his former client as a liar who fabricated the accusations to avoid paying her legal bill. Bowie also described his former client as a broke, drugged-up single mom.
Bowie and his lawyer have yet to respond to this newspaper’s repeated requests for comment.
***
Ish Aderonmu@LegalishCA Dec 22, 2022:
“The allegations against the respondent are of a predatory nature,” wrote Superior Court Justice Fred Myers in a ruling dated last Friday.
“Moreover, they are alleged to be an open secret in the legal community in Ottawa if not beyond.”
Just wow.
@SmartandSassy11 Dec 22, 2022:
Judge approved search of James Bowie’s phone speaks to the seriousness of the allegations and the evidence presented by the LSO.
I understand this very rarely happens without a hearing.
If it happened regularly and appropriately fitting the crimes by lawyers that are overlooked by their self-regulators, I believe lawyers would promptly stop conning and abusing their clients. If the legal regulators regulated, even when crimes are kept from the public or are open secrets as in this case, perhaps my lawyers (lead Murray Klippenstein and trainee Cory Wanless) would not have lied to me, and betrayed me and the public interest as nastily as they did and got away with it.
Law Society of Ontario allowed to seize and search lawyer’s phones and computers in widening sexual harassment probe, A Toronto judge granted the request to seize Ottawa lawyer James Bowie’s smartphones and computers to access his social media accounts by Jacques Gallant, Courts and Justice Reporter, Dec. 22, 2022, Toronto Star
Referring to “very broad and very serious” allegations of sexual harassment against Ottawa lawyer James Bowie, a Toronto judge granted the legal regulator’s request to search for and seize Bowie’s smartphones and computers to access his social media accounts.
CTV reported this month that a woman alleged to the Law Society of Ontario that Bowie offered legal services in exchange for sex, wanted to do illicit drugs with her and shared an explicit picture.
Bowie tweeted “it’s fake” after CTV’s initial story came out. His lawyer didn’t immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
Bowie gained attention on social media earlier this year when he live-tweeted the court proceedings of various figures from the Freedom Convoy movement that occupied the streets of Ottawa.
The Law Society said in court it was seeking to find evidence “concerning other potential victims, some of whom have been coming forward recently,” according to the ruling granting approval for the search and seizure.
“The allegations against the respondent are of a predatory nature,” wrote Superior Court Justice Fred Myers in a ruling dated last Friday. “Moreover, they are alleged to be an open secret in the legal community in Ottawa if not beyond.”
The regulator’s application to the court was made without notice given to Bowie, which Myers said is permitted under the Law Society Act. So why the Hell did the LSO wait so damned long to act? Happy to let the assaults continue like at Hockey Canada? He wrote last Friday that he would withhold publication of his ruling “for a brief period” pending the search and seizure.
Bowie is alleged to have used Snapchat, as well as alleged to have sent “explicit pictures and other inappropriate communications” through Facebook Messenger, Myers wrote.
“I am satisfied that the respondent’s devices and social media accounts likely contain evidence that relates to the initial and broadened matters under investigation,” Myers said.
A Law Society spokesperson declined to comment Wednesday, saying investigations by the regulator are confidential unless they result in public action, such as a discipline hearing
Bowie was suspended indefinitely by the Law Society Tribunal earlier this month for failing to co-operate with unrelated investigations.Wanna bet, after the dust settles, and much huffing and puffing, LSO reinstates him, even if found guilty? Rapists rule in Caveman Canada, as do law-violating lawyers and frac’ers
The Law Society of Ontario v Bowie, 2022 ONSC 7144 (CanLII)
2022-12-16 Released the following week.
File number: CV-22-690372
Citation: The Law Society of Ontario v Bowie, 2022 ONSC 7144 (CanLII), <https://canlii.ca/t/jtm3z>, retrieved on 2022-12-22
ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
RE: THE LAW SOCIETY OF ONTARIO, Applicant -and- JAMES DOUGLAS STEWART BOWIE, Respondent
BEFORE: FL Myers J
COUNSEL: Chad Skinner, for the applicant
No one, for the respondent
HEARD: December 2, 2022
ENDORSEMENT
[1] The Law Society moves without notice for an order authorizing search and seizure pursuant to s. 49.10 of the Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8. It seeks to search for and seize the respondent’s smartphones, computers, and other electronic devices to obtain access to and copy his social media communications.
[2] For the reasons that follow, I signed the order after the hearing.
[3] The relevant parts of s. 49.10 provide:
Order for search and seizure
49.10 (1) On application by the Society, the Superior Court of Justice may make an order under subsection (2) if the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing,
(a) that one of the following circumstances exists:
(i) a review of a licensee’s professional business under section 42 is authorized,
(ii) an investigation into a licensee’s conduct under subsection 49.3 (1) is authorized, or
(iii) a licensee whose capacity is being investigated under subsection 49.3 (3) may be, or may have been, incapacitated;
(b) that there are documents or other things that relate to the matters under review or investigation in a building, dwelling or other premises specified in the application or in a vehicle or other place specified in the application, whether the building, dwelling, premises, vehicle or place is under the control of the licensee or another person; and
(c) that an order under subsection (2) is necessary,
(i) because of urgency,
(ii) because use of the authority in subsection 42 (2) or 49.3 (2) or (4) is not possible, is not likely to be effective or has been ineffective, or
(iii) because subsection 42 (2) or 49.3 (2) or (4) does not authorize entry into the building, dwelling or other premises specified in the application or the vehicle or other place specified in the application.
Contents of order
(2) The order referred to in subsection (1) may authorize the person conducting the investigation or review, or any police officer or other person acting on the direction of the person conducting the investigation or review,
(a) to enter, by force if necessary, any building, dwelling or other premises specified in the order or any vehicle or other place specified in the order, whether the building, dwelling, premises, vehicle or place is under the control of the licensee or another person;
(b) to search the building, dwelling, premises, vehicle or place;
(c) to open, by force if necessary, any safety deposit box or other receptacle; and
(d) to seize and remove any documents or other things that relate to the matters under investigation or review.
Terms and conditions
(3) An order under subsection (2) may include such terms and conditions as the court considers appropriate.
Assistance of police
(4) An order under subsection (2) may require a police officer to accompany the person conducting the investigation or review in the execution of the order.
Application without notice
(5) An application for an order under subsection (2) may be made without notice.
[4] The Law Society is investigating allegations of sexual harassment against the respondent. What started with one complaint has now expanded to a broader investigation. The allegations are also in the public press and are very broad and very serious.
[5] The Law Society’s evidence is that the respondent has communicated elements of his misconduct by social media.I believe none of these judicial or LSO actions would have happened if the matters were not public, which is why complaints to the self regulating legal clubs are to be kept confidential. That confidentiality demand is to control victims and gag them, while protecting dirty abusive lawyers and their profession. The longer I live, the more I see how dirty Canada’s legal-judicial industry is, and how nasty it is to ordinary (not rich or powerful) victims, especially women and kids. He is alleged to use the Snapchat application knowing that it does not keep a permanent record of communications sent or received. But he is also alleged to have sent explicit pictures and other inappropriate communications through other types of electronic messaging social media such as the Facebook Messenger application.
[6] A complainant has presented her communications received from the respondent. The Law Society seeks to find proof that the communications were indeed sent by the respondent. In addition, it seeks evidence concerning other potential victims some of whom have been coming forward recently. I am satisfied that the respondent’s devices and social media accounts likely contain evidence that relates to the initial and broadened matters under investigation.
[7] The Law Society has asked the respondent to surrender his electronic devices for copying so it can (i) obtain evidence from the devices, and (ii) access his social media accounts. He refused. I find that arrogant and rude, but typical of my experiences with lawyers.He also did not allow the investigator to conduct a search for devices because he was not in his principal office and the statute does not provide the Law Society a right to search elsewhere without obtaining an order of the court.
[8] There is evidence before the court that the respondent carries on his law practice from his home and sometimes in vehicles. Electronic devices are likely to be found in both locations as personal devices are typically kept close by the owner. Larger devices are kept where one works or accesses the internet otherwise.
[9] I agree with the Law Society that all three grounds under s. 49.10 (c) exist. There is urgency to catch social media posts before they expire. Although the respondent knows the Law Society wants his devices, he also knows that Snapchat posts disappear. He does not know the scope of its evidence to date or the scope of the investigatory authority being sought. I am well satisfied that it is urgent to try to catch any recent posts before they expire. In any event, the Law Society’s other powers are insufficient to obtain the respondent’s devices. They searched his principal office under s. 49.3 (2). The receptionist told the investigator that he only uses the space for meetings and he works from home most of the time. That accords with the Law Society’s surveillance evidence as well. The Law Society lacks the authority to search the respondent’s home and car. It made demand for his devices and the respondent refused. There is also evidence that the respondent has not cooperated with the Law Society to this point and in prior investigations (resulting in him being charged with failure to cooperate).
[10] The allegations against the respondent are of a predatory nature. Moreover, they are alleged to be an open secret in the legal community in Ottawa if not beyond.Shows me how disgusting the legal club is, right up there at the top of evil, along with the LSO granting known convicted pedophiles licence to practice law.
[11] The Law Society has made arrangements for an independent third-party to hold and image the information on the respondent’s devices to protect privilege and his privacy. It seeks authority to require production of information from social media and telephone service providers. In my view, these requests fall within the scope of the statutory authority and are supported by reasonable grounds.
[12] The Law Society asks to seal the file. The Law Society seeks to protect the integrity of its investigation. Or, to set up a plan to eventually reinstate Mr. Bowie when the public’s rage subsides?
It seeks to protect the scope of the relief sought from the respondent at least until it has executed its searches. It seeks to protect personal information concerning the complainant. I am satisfied that the public interest in fostering investigation of lawyer wrongdoing outweighs the open court principle at least in the short run. I leave for another day whether that remains the case once the search has been executed.
[13] This matter was heard in Toronto because the statute allows it to be brought without notice to the respondent and the Law Society’s head office is here. Anyone who may wish to take further steps in this proceeding should consider the desirability of transferring the proceeding to Ottawa.
[14] Finally, I advised Mr. Skinner that I would withhold publication of this endorsement for a brief period pending the execution of the applicant’s searches. I request that he let my office know in the next few weeks when the applicant is content with the publication of this endorsement.
FL Myers J
Date: December 16, 2022
***
Ottawa lawyer James Bowie, accused of sexual misconduct, suspended by LSO in unrelated proceedings, Complainant’s lawyer says LSO delay forced client to take on the burden of informing public by Julius Melnitzer, 12 Dec 2022, Law Times News
The Law Society of Ontario has suspended embattled Ottawa lawyer James Bowie indefinitely until he responds satisfactorily to investigators’ requests to produce books and records related to his practice.
When and if he does so, the Law Society Tribunal ruled on Friday, he will face a further one-month suspension.
The suspension is not related to a separate complaint of sexual misconduct against Bowie, which has not been proven in court. But Michael Spratt, the complainant’s lawyer and a partner at Ottawa’s AGP LLP, a criminal law boutique, is concerned that the regulator’s delay in going public with the sexual misconduct allegations placed the burden of alerting the public about an alleged predator on his client.
The complainant, who had been suffering from depression and facing financial difficulties, filed her allegations on September 16. She claimed that Bowie, who previously gained notoriety for chronicling the court appearances of Freedom Convoy members on Twitter, offered her legal services in exchange for oral sex, invited her to snort cocaine, and sent her an unsolicited picture of his penis. The complainant attached Snapchat messages in support.
The public knew nothing of this until the complainant went public with CTV on November 30. The network subsequently uncovered nine women who detailed a pattern of harassment, manipulation and sexual assault by Bowie. Again, none of these allegations have been proven in court.
“I know the LSO is taking my client seriously and I appreciate the need for due process, but I was concerned about Bowie’s continued ability to interact with a public that was unaware of very serious and largely substantiated allegations,” Spratt says. “Because of my client’s bravery, the public is now aware, but my worry is that the burden of alerting the public fell on my client. I’m also worried about the reputation of the profession because we did not shine sunlight on this issue quickly enough.”
LSO spokesperson Jennifer Wing told Law Times that information concerning specific complaints made to the LSO and investigations by the LSO are confidential until or unless they result in public regulatory action.
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“Risk to the public is always considered and is evaluated on an ongoing basis,” she said.
The suspension on December 9 had, on its face, nothing to do with the sexual misconduct allegations. But it does, at least temporarily, stop Bowie from dealing with a vulnerable public from a position of trust.
Interestingly, Bowie tried to delay the December 9 hearing by seeking a one-month adjournment on the basis, according to LSO documents, that “recent proceedings and media attention” had exacerbated “medical and personal reasons” that “compromised his ability to participate effectively” on the scheduled date.
Bowie’s lawyer, Katherine Kealey, who practises with criminal law boutique Armoured Suits in Ottawa, filed evidence of a medical condition that “affects Mr. Bowie’s ability to perform at work for which a specialist has been made.” She also filed a prescription for an anti-depressant dated November 5, and an information request from Homewood Health, which provides mental health and addiction services, dated December 5.
But Tribunal member Malcolm Mercer denied the adjournment.
“It is clear that there are long outstanding investigative requests that have not been answered, which adversely affects ongoing investigations.”
At the hearing, Bowie accepted that the LSO had established professional misconduct on the failure to cooperate allegations. He apologized and committed to cooperate in the future. The suspension that followed stemmed from a joint submission on penalty that also required Bowie to pay $5,000 in costs within a year.
Kealy did not respond to Law Times’ request for comment.
***
Alheli Picazo@a_picazo Dec 6, 2022:
These are serious and disturbing allegations against a well-known lawyer. My god.
Kristina (she/her)@kristinaEBP:
This looks pretty damning for James Bowie. 24 separate women? That doesn’t happen out of nowhere.
Embattled Ottawa lawyer James Bowie facing new accusations of harassment, manipulation, sexual assault by Colton Praill, Dec 6, 2022, CTV News
Video here: New allegations against Ottawa lawyer
WARNING: This story contains graphic content.
A prominent Ottawa lawyer accused of offering legal services in exchange for sexual favours is now facing accusations of harassment, manipulation and sexual assault.
James Bowie rose to mainstream prominence on Twitter by chronicling the court appearances of ‘Freedom Convoy ‘organizers.’ But for years before that, he was allegedly already known in some circles as a man some women say they didn’t trust or feel safe around.
CTV News has spoken with nine women who all detailed a pattern of behaviour by Bowie which they received repeated and unwanted illicit messages, offers of cocaine, and attempts to solicit sexual favours.
'Shocking and disturbing:' Ottawa lawyer accused of sexual misconductOne woman said Bowie spent two years pressuring her into performing sexual acts, and at one point sexually assaulted her. Another woman said Bowie came to her workplace and berated her when she rejected his advances.
Last week, it emerged that Bowie is the subject of an official complaint to the Law Society of Ontario, alleging that he offered a woman legal services in exchange for sexual favours.
CTV News reached out to Bowie for comment, but he did not respond. Late Tuesday afternoon, a lawyer representing him said he does not have access to electronic devices at this time and could not do an interview.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Woman allegedly pressured into sexual acts
One woman said over a two-year period, she was pressured into performing sexual acts on Bowie in exchange for legal advice she never received.
“I would go to him for help, he would say he would help me, and then he would either force himself on or I would just cave and do what he wanted so he would stop,” she told CTV News.
The pair met on a dating site in 2019. The woman said she was trying to find someone with a stable job who could help her get out of her job as an escort.
But the woman says it quickly became apparent a relationship wouldn’t work. Instead, she turned to him for legal advice about previous sexual harassment she had experienced.
“I was really poor, and I kind of needed a lawyer, and he said it wasn’t illegal because we were friends and seeing each other, so it wasn’t really illegal for him to do that with me,” she said.
“Then he started asking me about other women, and trying to get me specifically to recruit other women and it got basically only about that,” she said. “Specifically he wanted two girls to perform oral sex on him at the same time.
She said she told Bowie several times that she was tired of something happening every time she visited him, and told him several times “I’m not doing this anymore.”
“He would be like ‘No seriously, you need help,’ and I would come over and he would still force himself on me, even though I said no.”
“Even if you said no to him, he would keep at it until you just crack, and then you felt like you said okay…so it was okay, but in reality he would just push and push and push and push and push.
“Some was consensual, some was grey, and some was not at all,” she said.
She said one time when she went to Bowie’s office seeking help, he sexually assaulted her.
“I wasn’t expecting him to pin me to the desk and then I was saying ‘No, no no, no no,’ but he still forced himself on me.
“When he sent me in the cab he said, ‘Thanks for letting me rape you.'”
The woman says the experience left her traumatized and feeling suicidal.
“The fact I let it happen so long, and I went back to him after that, made me feel like I was in the wrong, like I was useless, like I should have stopped it,” she said. “I don’t want other women to feel like this. I don’t, because I don’t have words for how I feel.”
The woman said after the initial CTV News story came out last week about Bowie’s alleged conduct with a client, she submitted a complaint to Ottawa police.
Bowie is now the subject of a criminal investigation by Ottawa police, CTV News has learned.
Woman says Bowie harassed her at workplace
Another woman told CTV News that after rejecting Bowie’s advances, he came into her workplace and verbally harassed her.
“He was very persistent, even though I had already said no,” she said. “And then a week or so later, he came into the restaurant and sat at the bar and said very explicit things to me about how he was going to take me to New York and put me up in a hotel and sort of lock me in there and have his way with me”
In some cases, women reported Bowie made attempts to have them recruit other women for sexual encounters. Other text messages show Bowie asking about “much younger girls.”
Two downtown restaurants confirmed to CTV News that they have banned Bowie for alleged drug use or inappropriate comments made towards female staff members. And two new complaints have been filed to the law society over Bowie’s actions.
Bowie and his lawyer have not responded to requests for comment from CTV News. But after the first story broke about Bowie’s investigation by the law society, he went on the social platform Discord to defend himself.
He said he was merely flirting with his client, describing her as a broke single mom who told (lawyer Michael) Spratt “some sob story” to avoid paying her bills.
‘Completely shocking’
Lawyer Michael Spratt, who is representing that complainant, said multiple women have reached out to him since the story broke with “seriously troubling” allegations.
“I’ve talked to approximately two dozen women who have independently reached out—voice mails, telephone calls, emails, through social media—describing experiences that range from gross sexual misconduct to criminal offences.”
“The things that I’ve heard—the brazenness of some of the allegations, the disrespect and the pure predatory nature of the stories I’ve heard—is completely shocking.”
Spratt said many of the allegations he’s heard relate to Bowie’s conduct as a lawyer.
“The real danger is when there is a power imbalance between a lawyer and someone who is seeking legal information, maybe someone in a desperate situation because they have charges, they’re being evicted, or they’re trying to seek justice in some other way,” he said. “To have a lawyer use that to his advantage is profoundly troubling, not only for the woman in question but for society as a whole and for the reputation of our profession.”
Spratt said he has urged those reaching out to him to make complaints to the law society or report matters to the police. For some “very serious allegations,” he has referred them to independent counsel.
‘Shocking and disturbing:’ Ottawa lawyer accused of sexual misconduct by Colton Praill, Nov 29, 2022, CTV News
WARNING: This story contains graphic content.
An Ottawa woman is accusing a well-known lawyer of sexual misconduct, saying he offered her legal services in exchange for sexual favours.
James Bowie, who became known on Twitter this year for chronicling the court appearances of various ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers, is the subject of an official complaint to the Law Society of Ontario.
The complaint alleges Bowie sent the woman “unsolicited intimate images, attempted to convince her to do illegal drugs with him, propositioned her, and offered legal services for sexual favours.”
“These predatory acts violate multiple rules of professional conduct and were deeply harmful and offensive,” the complaint said. “Mr. Bowie was seeking to prey on a vulnerable client.”
The woman, whose identity CTV News has agreed to conceal, said she feels taken advantage of and preyed upon and the experience left her feeling suicidal.
“I confided in him. He knew I was a victim of sexual assault,” she said in an interview. “I think he took the little pieces of myself I confided in him and ran with it, used it to his advantage.
“I feel like stuck doesn’t really do it justice because it, for lack of better words, ruined my life. I couldn’t go to work, I was afraid to leave the house, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat. I was so overwhelmingly … I became suicidal.”
The woman’s new lawyer, Michael Spratt, called the messages between Bowie and the woman “shocking and disturbing.”
“She showed me the communications that she had with him and it’s probably one of the most shocking and disturbing communications I’ve seen between a lawyer and a client,” he said.
CTV News called, emailed and texted Bowie to ask about the allegations in the complaint. He has not responded. CTV News also called his lawyer and has not heard back.
Bowie tweeted Tuesday evening, about one hour after this story was published, to say, “It’s fake. Just you wait. You’ll see. It’s fake.”
Lawyer offered woman a ‘deal’
The woman said she hired Bowie when she was facing an assault charge. She was looking for legal help and a friend put in her touch with him.
But she first began questioning his intentions when he offered her a “deal.”
“He said ‘Well, if every two weeks you give me oral sex… every two weeks you give me oral sex I won’t charge you at all,'” she said. “He asked me questions like: ‘Don’t you want to do this?’ I said no, very openly said no.”
An excerpt of the messages exchanged between Ottawa lawyer James Bowie and a woman who’s accusing him of offering legal services for sexual favours.
Despite her refusal, she alleges Bowie persisted, offering her a reduced rate, and suggesting she perform oral sex instead of paying cash.
“I made sure that the dates I would pay him were my pay day, so that would never be the case,” she said.
Messages and documents submitted as part of the official claim and seen by CTV News show that Bowie shared an unsolicited explicit picture with the woman and made inappropriate comments in conversations over Snapchat.”I hope it’s not because of my dick pic lol,” Bowie said when the woman said her boyfriend was upset with her.
The message showed that Bowie suggested the woman perform sexual favours instead of paying legal fees, knowing she was short on cash.
“Take a break from your instalments, but I get dibs on your rebound. Deal?” Bowie said when she told him her relationship with her boyfriend was on the rocks.
Another time, Bowie told the woman: “Don’t send me money.”
The woman responded that she didn’t know what Bowie was talking about.
“I’m talking about our deal, what we were talking about before, and I’m propositioning you,” he told her.
The woman later replied, “I don’t want to suck your d— and it ruin everything I’ve been working for.”
Another time, Bowie suggested he should be paying the woman in cash.
“I should be giving you cash lol,” he said in a message. “Come see me. I’ll give you the month off and I’ll hand you 200. That’s a 600 visit.”
An excerpt of the messages exchanged between Ottawa lawyer James Bowie and a woman who’s accusing him of offering legal services for sexual favours.
Lawyer suggested doing drugs together
In a conversation about how much stress the criminal charge was causing the woman, she confided in Bowie that she had taken time off work.
“This depression is crippling me. I’ve got so much on my plate I feel like I’m drowning lately,” she said.
Bowie responds: “That’s why you need to travel and have fun and blow off steam.”
The woman responded that she can’t afford to.
“This is where I come in,” Bowie said. “How often do you crush lines?”
“Literally once in a blue moon,” the woman responded.
“Maybe we should,” Bowie said.
Another time, Bowie asked what the woman did that day, and she responded that she “laid in bed and cried until about 630.”
Bowie asked if she was by herself, and when she said yes, he asked: “Want to get dinner and just snuggle?”
The woman responded she wanted to be alone.
An excerpt of the messages exchanged between Ottawa lawyer James Bowie and a woman who’s accusing him of offering legal services for sexual favours.
‘Disturbing’ allegations
With the help of a new lawyer, the woman had her initial case dropped and launched the official complaint with the law society.
“These are some of the most serious allegations I’ve seen against a lawyer,” Spratt said. “They’re disturbing and there’s evidence to back them up. He not only tried to extort sexual services from her, offer her drugs, proposition her, but he preyed on someone who was vulnerable and who he was supposed to help.”
The complaint to the law society also alleges that Bowie contacted the woman after being asked not to contact her.
Woman felt ‘worthless’
The woman said the experience with Bowie made her feel “worthless.”
“I was afraid to tell anybody,” the woman said. “I lost my partner because of it. I didn’t tell anybody what was going on.”
The woman said she hopes that sharing her story will stop this from happening to anyone else.
“Given the emotions I felt through this, how worthless I felt, that’s something I can’t take away from myself, but potentially I can take that away from somebody else, I just don’t want him to hurt anybody else.”
Ottawa lawyer James Bowie probed in legal services-for-sex case, In a complaint to the Law Society of Ontario, a former client alleges that Bowie sexually harassed and offered her drugs by Gary Dimmock, Nov 30, 2022, Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa lawyer James Bowie, known for garnering Twitter followers during the “Freedom Convoy” movement, is the subject of a complaint to the Law Society of Ontario after one of his clients alleged that he offered her legal services in exchange for oral sex, invited her to snort cocaine and sent her an unsolicited picture of his penis.
In the Sept. 16 complaint, the former client — struggling with depression and finances — reported that Bowie told her she could pay off her retainer with oral sex.
The former client attached what appear to be Snapchat messages to support her allegations to her complaint to the law society, the board that governs lawyers.
The LSO doesn’t comment on active investigations. However, this newspaper has viewed the sex-for-legal-services complaint and sources have told this newspaper that the law society notified Bowie last week that it was investigating the matter.
In one Snapchat conversation, an account with Bowie’s name asks about her boyfriend. She said her boyfriend was upset, to which a message from a Bowie account replied that he hoped it was not because of the photo he sent of his penis.
“He then asked if I wanted to do cocaine with him,” she recounted in her complaint to the law society.
The Snapchat messages, reviewed by this newspaper, appear to show that his client at the time said doing cocaine wouldn’t help her mental health.
A message from a Bowie account replied: “Maybe we should … I find it tends to get the party started … Coke, wine .. fun.”
“When I tried to talk about payments, Mr. Bowie knew I was vulnerable and struggling financially,” she said in her complaint.
A message from a Bowie account replied on Snapchat: “I’m talking about our deal, what we were talking about before, and I’m propositioning you.”
The client said she didn’t want to perform oral sex. A message from the purported Bowie account then asked: “Do you find me attractive?”
“Into you? Romantically? I’ve never met you,” the client appears to reply on Snapchat.
This newspaper has not verified the authenticity of the Snapchat messages, and the allegations against Bowie have not been proven. Bowie, nor his lawyer, did not comment on the allegations after several requests from this newspaper.
In an interview with this newspaper, the former client, who this newspaper is not identifying as she is the alleged victim of sexual harassment, said she’s been left traumatized.
“It made me feel powerless and also ashamed that all I was worth was sexual favours. It led to depression, time off work, lost weight, stress and suicidal,” she told this newspaper.
In the complaint to the law society, she said “(Bowie) has caused me trauma and I am worried he will do the same to other vulnerable people. He should not be in a position of power or trust.”
The woman has since retained criminal law specialist Michael Spratt, who filed the complaint to the law society on her behalf.
In a cover letter attached to the law society complaint, Spratt said:“(The complainant) is very upset and traumatized over the absolutely disgusting conduct of Mr. Bowie.
“These predatory acts violate multiple rules of professional conduct and were deeply harmful and offensive. Mr. Bowie was seeking to prey on a vulnerable client … (she) is fearful, given Mr. Bowie’s profile, about retribution,” Spratt wrote to the law society.
“His actions bring the reputation of all lawyers into disrepute,” Spratt continued.
In an unrelated case, Bowie is scheduled to appear at a law-society disciplinary hearing next month for allegedly failing to co-operate with three other investigations by not producing information and documents.
***
Mike Petch #ResignSeanChu #IamBrianFox@mpetch:
So when James Bowie makes comments that went from “fake” to “I was flirting with my client” then I can start believing the story by the claimant more without investigation. I have already said that if the claimants story is true James should be disbarred. Should be but won’t be, I expect. LSO licences known convicted pedophiles, I highly doubt Bowie or Mr. Regular will be disbarred. In my view, LSO is there to protect dirty lawyers, notably rapists to help rapists stay free to keep raping. It’s a satanic shit show.
Catherine@ingenuouscat Nov 29 Replying to @JamesDBowie:
I know the temptation to respond to the court of public opinion. My official retired lawyer recommendation is: resist the temptation.
LSO Tribunal Hearing filed Oct 26, 2022
Refer also to:
2024: Alberta Minister of Justice proves me wrong, revokes Douche’s Counsel (KC) for loudmouthed bigot misogynistic lawyer Rob Rakochey, formerly partner with Field Law, before that, senior partner, Norton Rose Fulbright.Why the fuck is this sleaze douche nozzle not disbarred? Oh right, Canada’s misogynistic demented legal and judicial industries regulate themselves, like the law violating AER, and they need rapists lawyers to keep rapists (notably lawyer-judicial) free out there raping to keep the catholic raping church happy and saving billions of dollars in rape settlements.
Legal professionals in all areas of practice in all jurisdictions suffer from “significantly high levels of psychological distress, depression, anxiety, burnout and suicidal ideation” says research conducted at the Sherbrooke University in Quebec.Anyone studying the harms done to Canadians and the public interest by such significantly mentally ill lawyers?
As the first comprehensive national study of its kind in Canada, the The National Study on the Psychological Health Determinants of Legal Professionals in Canada paints an alarming picture of the wellness of Canadian legal professionals.
“We should all be concerned by this data said Steeves Bujold, President of the Canadian Bar Association, in particular “the impact on women, young lawyers, lawyers with disabilities, Indigenous lawyers and other racialized legal professionals.”
The study’s key findings include:
- !!!More than half of all respondents reported experiencing psychological distress and burnout. Those rates are even higher for professionals living with a disability, articling students, lawyers aged 26-35, legal professionals with less than 10 years of experience, legal professionals identifying as members of LGBTQ2S+ community, and women.
- The billable hours model has a highly negative impact on mental health, but the emotional demands of clients is the risk factor with the most significant impact.
- Work–life conflict is a critical stressor and is associated with a significantly lower level of commitment to the profession and a substantially higher level of intention to leave the profession.Had I been married and or had children, even if the kids were grown up and living on their own, there is no way I would have done my frac lawsuit. Never, because the harms to me while doing it, would have severely harmed them. And the stresses I endured doing it, and the brutal loss of my life long savings would have been grossly unfair to subject any partner to, not matter how strong or steadfast.
- Legal professionals living with a disability and from minority groups experience higher levels of mental health concerns.
- Alcohol and drug use among legal professionals are at a worrying levelMy ex lead lawyer, Murray Klippenstein, drank one hell of a lot on my case, and appeared in court so hung over he reeked of booze, could barely think or talk (at Court of Appeal Alberta he just kept talking over and over in circles, saying the same thing repeatedly, annoying the judges, and at Supreme Court of Canada, he rudely stared down, hunched over, shrivelled up, incredibly humiliating, stressful and upsetting for me to witness, watching my lawsuit and savings go down the drunk drain; …
… The CBA’s Bujold noted that as a member of the LGBTQ2S+ community, he is “extremely saddened by the high rates of stress, anxiety, burnout and depression experienced by this community.” …
“The report is a wake-up call for the profession and the regulators,” said Nicolas Plourde, President of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. The findings are extremely troubling, he adds, “but the study provides us with information we need for all the stakeholders – employers, regulators and legal professionals themselves – to make evidence-based decisions about policies and practices that will help.” …
2020: Harassment in the Legal Profession: A Few Bad Apples?
Far too many people who work in law firms are subject to harassment by lawyers and paralegals. … “Harassment” is defined by the Ontario Human Rights Code as “a course of vexatious comment or conduct that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome.” Harassment is often (but not always) sexual in nature. It is distinct from discrimination, but is often based on prohibited grounds of discrimination such as gender, race, or disability. Harassment is distinct from assault (which requires touching), but in many cases the harassing course of conduct includes assault.
Once you start paying attention, evidence of harassment in law firms is not hard to find. Every month, approximately 15 complaints are made to the Law Society of Ontario’s Discrimination and Harassment Counsel (DHC) , regarding alleged discrimination or harassment by a member of the legal profession. Sexual harassment is the most common complaint to the DHC, representing a quarter of the complaints. Racial harassment is also commonly recorded in this data. In a recent Globe & Mail article, Jocelyn Downie and Elaine Craig remind readers that Gerald Regan, a famous lawyer and former Premier of Nova Scotia, has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by more than 35 women. His success seems to suggest that this conduct is still taken lightly in many quarters.
… Nevertheless, in my view preventing and responding to harassment is an essential job for law societies. Their legislative mandate is to protect not only clients, but “the public interest.” There is no reason to exclude employees from this ambit.
Preventing harassment is also is in clients’ interests. No one does their best work for clients when they are being targeted. In the worst cases harassment victims are driven out their jobs or even driven out of the legal profession altogether, tragically curtailing the good they can do for clients and the public at large.
… The Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent finding that there is no tort of harassment arguably increases the need to provide administrative remedies, for example through the law societies’ disciplinary processes.
Bad apples?
There are two very different ways to understand the problem of harassment in the legal profession, and each of these two suggests very different solutions. Is harassment basically a problem of “bad apple” harassers, whose behaviour must be detected and disciplined? Or is harassment better understood as a problem with the entire “barrel” – a Canadian legal profession afflicted by partriarchal attitudes, impunity for powerful partners, and structural racism? The two diagnoses lead to very different prescriptions.
Harassment is, of course, something an individual does and for which that individual can be held responsible. This behaviour is clearly forbidden by the Model Code of Professional Conduct (s. 6.3) and by the rules of every province. Law societies might take steps to more consistently detect and discipline individual harassers who are members of the legal profession.
Craig and Downie’s Globe and Mail article argued that lawyers should be required to report other lawyers “whom they have reasonable grounds to believe have engaged in sexual harassment or sexual assault.” This would add sexual harassment to Rule 7.1-3’s short list of “mandatory reporting offences,” alongside misappropriation of client money and criminal conduct related to law practice.
… Craig and Downie’s proposed duty to report harassment would not apply to the victim, and the mandatory report would presumptively anonymize the name of the victim. Some might nonetheless be concerned about whether such a reform would deprive victims of autonomy, and whether anonymous complaints would lead to effective disciplinary action given evidentiary problems.
… The apparent premise is that harassment is not simply a consequence of bad behaviour by bad apples, but rather symptomatic of problems with the whole barrel.
The Codes of most provinces, in addition to forbidding harassment, also say that lawyers have a “special responsibility” to respect the obligations of human rights codes, including the prohibition of harassment. Presumably a “special responsibility” means more than just a duty to personally comply. It might mean a duty to think and act systematically to make the barrel less hospitable to bad apples.
What specific regulatory responses might follow from this way of looking at the problem?
- Law firms, as entities, might be required to implement and abide by policies about harassment.
- Material about preventing and responding to harassment can be made part of law school curriculum, and continuing professional development. (Some Canadian law societies, including the LSO, have done so.)
- Power imbalance is a risk factor for harassment. Some argue that articling creates an unusually extreme power imbalance, by making the articling student’s ability to practice law dependent on the principal’s essentially unaccountable say-so. Indeed, there is persuasive evidence that articling students are especially likely to be victimized. (Adam Dodek’s Slaw posts are essential reading on this). Less harassment of entry-level lawyers might be a positive consequence of abolishing articling, as Amy Salyzyn and others have argued. …
2019:
There are a lot of problems with drinking, drugs, rapes and mental health issues in the oil and gas industry too. Is self regulation the problem, or greed and or regularly breaking the law?
… The whole question of the values behind the rules of the legal system is not on the whole of great interest to law schools or the legal profession.
And there’s an additional point: lawyers are taught to manipulate the rules…. If you’re a manipulator of rules, then you can’t respect the rules as such or believe that they incorporate important values. …
Arrogance is part of it. If you’re taught how to manipulate rules, you lose respect for them, and that leads to a kind of arrogance: I’m bigger than the rules, I’m not the average man on the street who needs to be law-abiding because I know how to get around the rules. And there may be just a touch of the more common form of arrogance, too, which is “I’m smarter than they are, they’ll never catch me.” But you can be arrogant and still have a healthy sense of what’s good for you, and what dangers you shouldn’t run. I have some speculation about why people behave this way, and one reason is simple boredom. When people are bored, there’s a tendency to take risks.
… The disciplinary process of the law societies in this country is deeply flawed. Lawyers are disciplined for breaches of professional rules, but it’s like so much in Canada: everything depends on where you live. What can get you disbarred in Alberta won’t have much effect on you at all in, say, Nova Scotia. The first difficulty with the disciplinary system is that if you’re a lawyer who’s alleged to have stepped afoul of the rules, you’re investigated by the law society. If they decide you’re a transgressor, they’ll prosecute you, they’ll hire a lawyer to do that, and the disciplinary committee itself is the law society. So you have the investigator, the prosecutor and the judge all essentially representing the same institution. I thought in this country we had a fundamental principle, that the person who investigates and prosecutes isn’t the same person who judges. …
