Law society disbars veteran city lawyer

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This article was published 03/07/2015 (3751 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A veteran Winnipeg lawyer who previously oversaw the Canadian Bar Association has been disbarred after admitting to 15 counts of professional misconduct.

Barry Gorlick was handed the most serious sanction available by the Law Society of Manitoba following a lengthy hearing in the spring. The Free Press obtained a written copy of its 23-page decision that was released this week.

Gorlick had fought against disbarment, arguing he should be allowed to continue practising under supervision and with strict conditions. But the governing body for all provincial lawyers found that would be too lenient given Gorlick’s actions between 1994 and 2014, which only recently came to light.

“Since integrity is such a fundamental attribute of a lawyer, it follows that breaches of integrity must be treated very seriously,” the panel wrote.

Gorlick’s lengthy list of indiscretions includes:

— Botching divorce proceedings on behalf of a client. Gorlick repeatedly lied to the woman, including telling her the Manitoba Court of Appeal had made certain rulings, the Supreme Court of Canada would be hearing her case, that courts in other countries were involved, that it had been set down for arbitration and that she had a huge financial reward coming her way.

In reality, he let the file gather dust for several years and took no steps to even set it down for trial.

The woman ultimately found herself in major financial distress, which Gorlick only made worse by helping the woman secure loans she couldn’t afford to repay by creating bank documents claiming she would soon come into more than $200,000. He also lied to the Canada Revenue Agency about her financial status.

Gorlick then began loaning his own money to the woman to cover overdue mortgage payments and even solicited another client to give the woman $200,000 on the premise she would soon collect several million dollars from her wealthy ex-husband. None of it was true.

— Misappropriating more than $87,000 worth of trust funds paid by two clients he was representing in a divorce proceeding and a civil matter. Gorlick was using the funds to cover promised payments to other clients in cases he’d allowed to lapse, only to cover up with a string of lies.

Gorlick created numerous false documents for his clients in an attempt to make it appear their money was being used for legitimate purposes. In reality, Gorlick was using the funds to support himself and his family.

— Botching a medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of a client who ended up with part of her leg amputated. Gorlick failed on numerous fronts, which ultimately led to the case being thrown out of court after dragging on for nearly two decades.

This included not serving one of the doctors, not returning calls and letters from other counsel in the matter, not setting the matter down for trial and not communicating with his client who later sued him successfully.

Gorlick testified on his own behalf before the law society panel, detailing the dramatic downfall of a career that began in 1980 and included being named as president of the Canadian Bar Association in 1998.

“He began his testimony by apologizing to the profession, his firm and his clients for what he described as his ‘despicable’ behaviour,” the law society decision reads. Gorlick said problems began around 2006 when his elderly mother became ill, leading to “increasing emotional pressures and financial commitments.” His 25-year marriage began to collapse in 2008, and Gorlick said stress was mounting, which caused him to eventually “cross a serious line” for which there was no return.

“He said he was relieved when the law society began its investigation as he could finally stop living all the lies,” the panel wrote.

Gorlick also presented more than 60 character references and 11 witnesses — including several other lawyers and even some former satisfied clients — who testified on his behalf. They also documented his history of charitable work in the community.

“What becomes very clear when all of this evidence is considered together is that Mr. Gorlick served the legal profession, the community and his clients with great skill, integrity and compassion throughout his over 30-year career,” the panel wrote.

Now that career is over for what the law society has called “an ever-escalating series of unethical decisions.” “Of paramount consideration is the preservation of the public’s trust in the integrity of the legal profession and its faith in its ability to govern its own members,” the law society wrote. “In all of the circumstances, the panel has concluded that disbarment is the only penalty that adequately addresses the seriousness of the conduct.”

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