Law Bits

Three law-related stories made the news this week that are a bit on the tawdry side, by this blog's usual standards:

The National Post reports that George Hunter, a former Treasurer of Ontario's Law Society of Upper Canada, has been sued for $1.4 million by a former client, over an alleged affair that ocurred while he represented her in family law proceedings:

"My client was emotionally devastated by Mr. Hunter's actions," the woman's lawyer, Matthew Wilton, said yesterday. "She placed her trust in him to act in her best interests. He held himself out as a pillar of the legal community."

The prominent Ottawa lawyer stepped down as treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada in December, 2005, after disclosing his affair with A.B., whom he had represented in a child custody dispute with her former husband.

Last February, at a Law Society disciplinary hearing, Mr. Hunter pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for acting in a conflict of interest in relation to a client. He was suspended from practising law for 60 days and returned to Borden Ladner Gervais last April.

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A Chattanooga Judge has resigned over disclosure of graphic fantasy recordings he apparently made. The tapes were allegedly so realistic that law enforcement initially suspected they were related to an unsolved murder case:

"The description of it as containing 'graphic fantasies' ... is an accurate and sufficient description and all any decent person would want to hear of it," the judge said in a statement.

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And it it gets worse...

A 25 year old University of Arizona law student, who is also a former law clerk for a U.S. Court Judge and a previous Miss Arizona contestant has gotten herself into quite a lot of trouble.

Kumari Fulbright has been charged with kidnapping, torturing and threatening a former boyfriend with the help of three other men.

It goes without saying that the requisite side-by-side bikini and mug shot comparisons of Ms. Fullbright have subsequently been splashing around the tabloid circuit online and throughout the media.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net

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