Law Times

PAGE 4 NEWS march 14, 2011 • Law Times 2 law grads continue fight to become lawyers BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times T wo former law stu- dents are continuing their fi ght with the Law Society of Upper Canada after it spurned their applica- tions to become lawyers. Ryan Manilla, who was de- nied a licence in September, returned to Osgoode Hall for an appeal on March 4 after the panel at his original hearing found he wasn't of good charac- ter by a 2-1 majority. Brent Burns, meanwhile, has vowed to appeal a panel's order refusing to set aside his aban- doned application. He claims his lawyer failed to explain the con- sequences of doing so. He has been battling to enter the profes- sion over fi ve criminal convic- tions. Th e panel also criticized him for angry letters he wrote to the law society's counsel. Manilla, a high-fl ying law stu- dent tripped up by a bitter dis- pute with fellow members of his condo board, was at the appeal hearing with his wife, but neither he nor his lawyer Phil Downes would speak to Law Times about the matter. "Th is appeal is not about whether the conduct engaged by Mr. Manilla was disgraceful and unacceptable," Downes told the appeal panel, noting his client had repeatedly acknowledged his actions were out of line. Instead, he argued the origi- nal panel's reasons were inade- quate because they isolated a key question but failed to answer it. "As a witness, he appeared to be forthright and convincing. But was he being merely manipula- tive?" the panel asked. By denying his applica- tion, "Th ey answered the ques- tion but without any reasons," Downes said. After graduating from Os- goode Hall Law School in the top 10 per cent of his class and with a prestigious international law award, Manilla moved on to the New York offi ce of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP. He returned to Canada and completed his abridged articles at criminal law fi rm Pinkofskys in April 2009. But by then his career was already in doubt as a result of the escalating battle at the condo board. Manilla had been forced out of the president's chair because of his opposition to a fee hike but won the position back after posting a notice in the lobby of the build- ing purportedly from an off -site unit owner, Carinci Daria, accus- ing his fellow board members of taking kickbacks from the con- do's management company and developer. Another was falsely ac- cused of assaulting his wife. Manilla also threatened to re- port some of the board members as drug smugglers to U.S. offi cials. Authorities eventually charged Manilla with four counts of crim- inal harassment, although they were withdrawn in June 2009 when he agreed to sell his condo, apologize to the complainants for the false allegations, and attend anger management classes. Th e panel at his good char- acter hearing was encouraged by positive reports from doctors and therapists who praised Ma- nilla's progress but was troubled by his late admission just fi ve days before the hearing that he had written the letter. In responding to Downes' criticisms of the original panel's ruling, law society counsel Su- zanne Jarvie said the onus was on Manilla to convince the panel he was of good character. She ar- gued the panel's decision read as a whole gives adequate reasons for its fi nding that he hadn't met that onus. "Could they have bet- ter reasons? I'm sure they could have been better. But are they inadequate? Absolutely not. "What they're saying is the passage of time is too brief, par- ticularly in light of the fact he was still telling lies up to fi ve days before the hearing. What- ever the rehabilitation process had done, it hadn't done as much as he thought it had." Downes also presented new evidence to the appeal panel that included further character letters and details of Manilla's volunteer work with Victim Ser- vices of York Region. Downes told the panel members that if they believe the reasons were in- adequate, they can consider the new evidence and make their own fi nding that he's of good character without referring the matter for a new hearing. "Th is is evidence of conduct that is somewhat remarkable and exceptional," Downes said. "It's a broad power you're given. Why go through another hearing?" Th e fi ve-bencher appeal panel reserved judgment and will de- liver a decision at a later date. Burns' problems also started with a good character hearing after he revealed in his applica- tion that he was convicted of fi ve off ences in 2002, includ- ing assault causing bodily harm, obstruction of a police offi cer, and impaired driving. A notice of hearing was is- When More is Too Much sued in April 2009, but by Sep- tember of that year, Burns was struggling to raise the money for a lawyer. Th e lawyer appeared at a proceedings management conference assisting Burns as he fi led a notice of abandonment of his application. On Feb. 22, an LSUC panel refused his motion to have the notice set aside. According to the decision, Burns had second thoughts within days of signing his notice of abandonment as he claimed his lawyer, who isn't named in the decision, had mis- led him about its ramifi cations. Burns then launched a lawsuit in the Ontario Superior Court that demanded that the law so- ciety set aside his notice of aban- donment. He eventually agreed to withdraw the lawsuit in exchange for a hearing on his motion to set it aside. Amanda Worley, who acted for the law society, told the pan- el Burns would be in no worse a situation regardless of whether it set aside his notice because he was free to apply again. In either case, he'd still have to have his good character hearing and take the bar exam once again since the three-year limit on its appli- cability had passed. During the proceedings, the panel saw e-mails from Burns to Worley in which he called her "a fraud." In addition, he asked her, "What's it like to sell your soul?" "Th e panel found it diffi cult Irrelevant cases chewing up your research time? Get the best cases first. There's no bones about it. BestCase not only has a comprehensive collection of selected by experts to identify the most relevant cases first. 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