Taylor v. Law Society of the Northwest Territories, (2010) 487 A.R. 366 (CA)

• Judge: Hunt, O'Brien and Slatter, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Northwest Territories)
• Case Date: June 16, 2010
• Jurisdiction: Northwest Territories
• Citations: (2010), 487 A.R. 366 (CA)

Taylor v. NWT Law Soc. (2010), 487 A.R. 366 (CA);

      495 W.A.C. 366

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2010] A.R. TBEd. AU.054

Patrice Taylor (appellant) v. Law Society of the Northwest Territories (respondent)

(A-1-AP2009000011; 2010 NWTCA 9)

Indexed As: Taylor v. Law Society of the Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories Court of Appeal

Hunt, O'Brien and Slatter, JJ.A.

July 29, 2010.

Summary:

Taylor was a member of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories. She appealed from a determination that she was deserving of sanction for professional misconduct and from the sanction imposed.

The Northwest Territories Court of Appeal, O'Brien, J.A., dissenting in part, dismissed the appeal.

Barristers and Solicitors - Topic 5106

Discipline - General - Professional misconduct defined - Taylor was cited by the Law Society of the Northwest Territories for failing "to serve Legal Aid clients in a conscientious, diligent, efficient and competent manner by engaging in a pattern of neglect and mistakes in different matters" - A sole inquirer conducted a hearing and issued a Report - The Report noted the seven particulars making up the citation, including allegations that Taylor had publicly called a client a liar; appeared in court late on one occasion; failed to appear in court on behalf of clients on several occasions; and failed to pass on Crown disclosure, in a timely way, to another lawyer taking over responsibility for the file - The Report concluded that Taylor had made mistakes in each of the seven instances - Based on the cumulative effect of the seven particulars, the Report concluded that Taylor's conduct showed a pattern of neglect or mistakes and that she had breached the Law Society's Code of Professional Conduct with respect to quality of service - The sanctions imposed for a single count of professional misconduct were a reprimand, a $2,000 fine (the maximum fine for a first offence) and costs of $10,000 - Taylor appealed - The Legal Profession Act limited an appeal to a question of law - The Northwest Territories Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal - The questions raised by Taylor involved questions of mixed fact and law which were outside the court's jurisdiction - Even if some of the issues could be considered questions of law, the reasonableness standard had not been breached - See paragraphs 21 to 26.

Barristers and Solicitors - Topic 5453

Discipline - Reprimand - For professional misconduct - [See Barristers and Solicitors - Topic 5106 ].

Barristers and Solicitors - Topic 5486

Discipline - Fines - For professional misconduct - [See Barristers and Solicitors - Topic 5106 ].

Barristers and Solicitors - Topic 5503

Discipline - Costs - Liability for - [See Barristers and Solicitors - Topic 5106 ].

Barristers and Solicitors - Topic 5582

Discipline - Appeals and judicial review - Standard of review - [See Barristers and Solicitors - Topic 5106 ].

Barristers and Solicitors - Topic 5583

Discipline - Appeals and judicial review - Jurisdiction - Taylor, a member of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories, appealed from a determination that she was deserving of sanction for professional misconduct - Section 33(1) of the Legal Profession Act provided for an appeal to the Court of Appeal "on a question of law" - Section 22(1) provided that "The question of whether a person is guilty of professional misconduct or conduct unbecoming a barrister and solicitor ... shall be determined by a Sole Inquirer ... or, on appeal, by the Court of Appeal " - Although s. 33(1) gave the Court of Appeal jurisdiction only over questions of law, Taylor submitted that s. 22(1) gave the court additional review powers over disciplinary decisions, by permitting the court to make its own determination as to whether a person was guilty of professional misconduct or conduct unbecoming - The Northwest Territories Court of Appeal rejected the argument - The court stated that "Because subsection 33(1) expressly limits the scope of appellate review, only when a determination about misconduct or conduct unbecoming gives rise to an extricable question of law will this Court's jurisdiction be invoked. The words 'on appeal' in subsection 22(1) must be interpreted within the confines of the narrow authority granted to the Court of Appeal by subsection 33(1)" - See paragraphs 12 to 16.

Cases Noticed:

Ryan v. Law Society of New Brunswick, [2003] 1 S.C.R. 247; 302 N.R. 1; 257 N.B.R.(2d) 207; 674 A.P.R. 207; 2003 SCC 20, refd to. [para. 13].

Placer Dome Canada Ltd. v. Ontario (Minister of Finance), [2006] 1 S.C.R. 715; 348 N.R. 148; 210 O.A.C. 342; 2006 SCC 20, refd to. [para. 14].

New Brunswick (Board of Management) v. Dunsmuir, [2008] 1 S.C.R. 190; 372 N.R. 1; 329 N.B.R.(2d) 1; 844 A.P.R. 1; 2008 SCC 9, refd to. [para. 17].

Proprio Direct Inc. v. Association des courtiers et agents immobiliers du Québec et al., [2008] 2 S.C.R. 195; 375 N.R. 1; 2008 SCC 32, refd to. [para. 18].

Law Society of Upper Canada v. Evans (2008), 240 O.A.C. 1; 91 O.R.(3d) 163 (Div. Ct.), refd to. [para. 18].

R. v. Ahenakew (D.) (2008), 307 Sask.R. 220; 417 W.A.C. 220; 2008 SKCA 4, refd to. [para. 31].

Statutes Noticed:

Legal Profession Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. L-2, sect. 22(1), sect. 33(1) [para. 11].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Kerans, Roger P., and Willey, Kim M., Standards of Review Employed by Appellate Courts (2nd Ed. 2006), pp. 197, 244, 245 [para. 31].

Counsel:

P.G. Lister, Q.C., for the appellant;

L. MacDonald, Q.C., for the respondent.

This appeal was heard on June 16, 2010, before Hunt, O'Brien and Slatter, JJ.A., of the Northwest Territories Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal filed reasons for judgment reserved on July 29, 2010, including the following opinions:

Hunt, J.A. (Slatter, J.A., concurring) - see paragraphs 1 to 28;

O'Brien, J.A, dissenting in part - see paragraphs 29 to 36.