Law Times

Page 4 April 7, 2014 • lAw Times www.lawtimesnews.com ne of deceased lawyer Javad Heydary's dis- gruntled clients is facing further legal diffi- culties as the former counsel who first repre- sented him in his case against Heydary Ham- ilton PC is now requesting a charging order over unpaid legal fees. Abuzour and his wife Samira are seeking $3.6 million held in trust for them by Heydary Hamilton and its di- rector, Heydary, a lawyer declared dead late last year fol- lowing his disappearance in November. Before retaining Marciano Beckenstein LLP lawyer Mark Adilman, the Abuzours pursued their case with the help of Ray apar of Brampton, Ont., law firm Sim- mons da Silva LLP. In January, Abuzour told Law Times he had discharged his former counsel for what he described as lack of planning. apar now says he didn't receive payment for the work he did on Abuzour's file and is seeking a charging order from the Superior Court in the event his former client recovers his missing money in the future. apar tells Law Times he made eight to nine court appearances in the case. "I don't think anyone can deny that work was done [on the file]," he says. He describes the charging motion as "an ordinary" procedure and says he hopes to settle with Abuzour. apar's motion records say there remains an outstand- ing balance of about $133,000 for the work he did. Apart from paying $27,672 for fees and disbursements, the Abu- zours had said they didn't have the resources to compen- sate him for his work at the time, the motion suggests. "Notwithstanding the Abuzours' assurances that [Simmons da Silva] would obtain payment of its account from recoveries, when [the firm] brought the matter to the point where some recoveries could be obtained from LawPRO, the law society compensation fund and from the monies in the Heydary trust account, the Abuzours retained new counsel without making any arrangements for the payment of the outstanding account," apar's motion states. "I have made repeated efforts to meet with the Abuzours to discuss and come to an amicable settle of the outstanding account. e Abu- zours made an appointment and then cancelled without explanation. Since that time, they have stopped responding to my effort to contact them," he noted in the motion. In addition to a charging order, apar is also requesting a sealing order on the motion and all records filed for it. "Even though there is a burden on the party who requests the sealing of court records, and public policy fa- vours the openness of the courts for the administration of justice and public confidence, exceptions can be made to this principle," wrote apar, who's seek- ing to protect documents containing communications between his firm and Abuzour. Adilman didn't want to discuss the issue in detail but notes he's hoping to resolve the matter when it's back in court in late May. e Abuzours are currently out of the country, he says. "I'm hoping that when they get back to Toronto, we'll be able to work things out with Mr. apar." Adilman says he's currently working to recover funds from the Law Society of Upper Canada's compensation fund as well as other options. But the odds of recovery from Heydary Hamilton or Heydary seem "bleak," he adds. "In terms of recovering from the law firm or Heydary, those options seem fairly bleak based on the information we have at this time," he notes. "Our understanding is that the money is gone and there are no significant assets held by either the firm or Mr. Heydary or his estate. at's what we've been led to believe, although we haven't been able to conduct a de- tailed examination of either of those questions. It's really what we've been told." In January, Superior Court Justice Julie orburn asked the law society to provide Abuzour's counsel with some information on the Heydary Hamilton account. e documents the law society provided show the Heydary Hamilton trust account dwindled almost immediately aer the Abuzours' money went in, says Adilman. "It details the history of the short- fall in the account and it provided a little detail on where the money went from trust to general to various par- ties like the Red Seal Notary and Oc- tagon [Law Group]," says Adilman. e issues at Heydary Hamilton have affected several parties. Many of the co-directors at the various Heydary-branded law firms expressed shock and disappointment following Heydary's disappearance in November. Since then, they've all le the Heydary firms. Litigation lawyer Doug Elliott, formerly of Heydary Elliott PC, is now a partner at Cambridge LLP. Mark Hayes, who co-directed intellectual property law firm Heydary Hayes PC, is continuing his practice under the banner of Hayes eLaw LLP. Heydary Green PC's Michael Cochrane is now a partner at litigation and corporate law boutique Brauti orning Zibarras LLP while Lorne Samuel of Heydary Samuel PC has a private real estate practice. Former Heydary Hamilton lawyer David Al- derson has joined Gilbertson Davis LLP. In the meantime, law society spokesman Roy omas says the LSUC hasn't yet concluded its trusteeship of the Heyday law firms. LT Heydary's unhappy clients facing legal action over unpaid fees NEWS All Aboard! A Lunch-time Speaker Series on: Getting Appointed to & Succeeding on Corporate Boards April 25: Ethical Leadership and Corrupt Practices on Boards May 23: Empowering Women to Succeed on Corporate Boards and in Leadership Roles June 24: The Lawyer's Role in Advising Corporate Boards Time: 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm Cost: $25 + GST per person Advance registration is required. Please contact: 416-978 1400 / gpllm@utoronto.ca Location: Various. Please check our website for details: http://www.law.utoronto.ca/programs/GPLLM.htm dŚĞ'ůŽďĂůWƌŽĨĞƐƐŝŽŶĂů>>͘D͘ŝƐŶŽǁĂĐĐĞƉƟŶŐĂƉƉůŝĐĂƟŽŶƐĨŽƌ^ĞƉƚĞŵďĞƌ͕ϮϬϭϰ͘ WůĞĂƐĞĐŚĞĐŬŽƵƌǁĞďƐŝƚĞĨŽƌ/ŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶ^ĞƐƐŝŽŶƐ͘ 1 Professionalism hr. each UofT_LT_Apr7_14.indd 1 14-04-01 3:01 PM BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times O Legal wrangling continues over deceased lawyer Javad Heydary's law firms and businesses.

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