Law Times

Law Times • OcTOber 5/12, 2009 NEWS PAGE 5 Multiple law society complaints dog lawyer BY ROBERT TODD Law Times A Law Society of Upper Canada hearing panel has suspended a Toronto lawyer pending inves- tigations into 11 complaints regarding his conduct and a separate investigation into his capacity. Antonios Karalis, who was suspended for two months in February for conduct unbecoming a student member and for professional misconduct, was again the subject of a hearing last month over the new allegations. The complaints include an allegation that his failure to attend court on at least seven separate occasions led to a client's "needless and unwarranted incarceration" for about a month, said the hearing panel. "What concerns us is the substantial evidence of a lack of integrity," wrote hearing panel chairman Mark Sandler in the Sept. 22 ruling. "There is evidence that that lack of in- tegrity has permeated his practice from the outset and continues today. It is clear to us that reasonable grounds exist to believe that the lawyer poses a significant risk to members of the public and to the public interest in the administration of justice if he continues to practise. Indeed, the avail- able evidence overwhelmingly supports that conclusion at this stage." The interim interlocutory suspen- sion order becomes a final interlocutory order 30 days after it was handed down "unless fresh evidence or a material change in circumstances is brought by the parties to the attention of the hear- ing panel, and the hearing panel varies or cancels the order," according to the decision. The law society will continue its investigation into the complaints and must file an affidavit on the status of the probe by Nov. 30. The law society would then decide whether to file a con- duct or capacity application on the new complaints, which would be handled by a separate hearing panel. Karalis, who couldn't be reached for comment, was called to the bar in 2005 and has worked as a sole practi- tioner since then, according to the deci- sion. He focuses mainly on criminal law along with some family, environmental, and real estate matters. The new allega- tions against him haven't been proven. His suspension earlier this year conduct come from a range of individu- als, including a judge, Crown counsel, duty counsel, a lawyer, and a paralegal. They include allegations of failing to ap- pear at trial, failure to abide by a court order, failure to respond adequately to the law society, failing to serve a client, practising while under suspension, mis- appropriation, and misleading. As well, a capacity investigation in- volves his "recurrent and frequent epi- leptic seizures and their impact on his practice," according to the decision. "That being said, if the concerns here related exclusively or even predominant- ly to his ability to reconcile his seizures to his ongoing practice, those concerns It is not our role to determine whether the allegations that prompted these investigations will ultimately be proceeded with by the society or, if proceeded with, whether they will be established to the requisite degree of proof. stemmed from misconduct findings as a student member and soon after his call to the bar, the decision stated. While a student member, he held himself out to be a lawyer; commissioned a false affida- vit; commissioned an affidavit when it was not sworn to by the affiant; failed to disclose to a judge that he was a student member even after the judge referred to him as a lawyer; and submitted a certifi- cate of articles knowing it contained the forged signature of his principal even though the principal had signed the re- quired certificate. He was found to have engaged in professional misconduct for failing to respond to a client and misleading a law society investigator. The current investigations into Karalis' could likely be addressed through a plan of supervision similar to that proposed by the lawyer," wrote Sandler. "However, in our view, the evidence here raises far more significant concerns." He noted, however, "it is not our role to determine whether the allegations that prompted these investigations will ulti- mately be proceeded with by the society or, if proceeded with, whether they will be established to the requisite degree of proof. But we are satisfied that there is a credible evidentiary basis for pursuing these investigations and that a number of them raise disturbing concerns about the lawyer engaging in misconduct . . . ." The hearing panel said that "in some limited instances," Karalis adequately addressed the allegations against him. "But the evidence relied on by the lawyer (including but not limited to his own evidence) falls short of negating the very significant concerns that the avail- able evidence raises about his conduct," wrote Sandler. The panel concluded that restricting Karalis' practice would not go far enough in protecting both the public and the pub- lic interest in the administration of justice. One complaint involves the lawyer's actions for a client facing sexual offenc- es. According to the decision, there is evidence that Karalis repeatedly failed to attend court on behalf of the client for matters including a pretrial, confir- mation hearing, and trial dates. The cli- ent had signed a designation, but Kara- lis' failure to attend at one point led to a bench warrant being issued and the client's eventual incarceration for about a month. Karalis was eventually able to secure the client's release following a bail review. Karalis said his agent gave him incor- rect information regarding scheduling, according to Sandler. The lawyer also pointed to seizures as the reason for "all or virtually all" of his failures to attend court on the file. "In summary, there are many com- plaints against the lawyer," wrote San- dler. "They, together with his responses to them, raise disturbing concerns about his integrity, including his candour to clients, the court, the society, and to this hearing panel. These concerns are well grounded in the evidence avail- able to us. To be brutally frank, his viva voce evidence accentuated, rather than diminished, the significant risks associ- ated with his continuing practice." LT Better Results Faster GET THE WESTLAW® CANADA ADVANTAGE EFFECTIVE RESEARCH PATHWAYS KEEPING YOUR RESEARCH MOVING FORWARD All Westlaw® Canada content is seamlessly linked so you never have to back track to find related information. You'll find everything you need in one place and we'll point out and provide links to relevant related material along the way. The Canadian Encyclopedic Digest links to the relevant classifications in The Canadian Abridgment for a logical start to efficient research filings and commentary your fingertips www.westlawcanada.com Carswell_LT_Oct5/12_09.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 9/30/09 11:37:32 AM

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