The lawyer representing a Prince George nightclub in a battle over COVID-era tickets was ordered this past September to pay a former client $15,000 for failing to provide a retainer agreement that complied with regulations governing conduct of the legal profession in Ontario.
The client had hired Saron Gebresellassi in November 2015 to advance a civil claim after he suffered injuries in a motor vehicle collision serious enough to prevent his return to work, according to a summary provided in an endorsement issued by an Ontario Superior Court Justice.
In April 2017, Gebresellassi filed a notice in answer to the client's tort claim but not one advancing a claim under the Family Law Act on behalf of his spouse. By December 2018, he parted ways with Gebresellassi after he had become "dissatisfied with the work performed on his file" and he retained new counsel.
In turn, the new counsel sought a copy of the respondent’s account for services rendered. It took seven months for Gebresellassi to provide a copy and dockets supporting a claim for $51,748.35, were not provided.
As part of a further back-and-forth over fees, Gebresellassi provided retainers the client had signed. Not only did the record suggest he was never provided with a copy of the documents, but his new counsel formed the view that they were non-compliant and on Jan. 31, 2022 launched a proceeding on the matter.
According to a history of the proceeding, it was adjourned twice because Gebresellassi delivered her responding materials in French, "although its former client and the applicant’s counsel do not speak French" and they could not be translated in time for the hearing.
A third adjournment followed when Gebresellassi advised that there was a widespread internet outage in British Columbia, where she was, and she could not access the electronic file for the motion.
A hearing was finally heard on Sept. 27, 2022 and two days later, the judge issued a decision in which she cited a handful of reasons for finding the retainer agreements were non-compliant and ordered Gebresellassi to pay the $15,000 within 30 days.
Among them, the judge found that they failed to state that the client retains the right to make all critical decisions regarding conduct of the matter, gave Gebresellassi discretion to determine how the fee will be calculated in event of the agreement's termination, did not provide an example of how the contingency fee is calculated, failed to state whether fees charged exclude any amount awarded as costs and did not say the client has the right to ask a judge to review and approve a solicitor's bill.
Saying the regulation governing retainers is designed to protect the public, the judge declared the agreements void.
Gebresellassi is currently representing Linda Allen, the owner of Lambda Cabaret, now known as Club 1177, who is contesting two tickets the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch issued the nightspot on Sept. 25, 2021 for alleged violations of COVID-related restrictions.
Following a failed attempt to have it heard in French, Gebresellassi has applied to have a trial on the matter heard by a bilingual judge. A decision on the application has been adjourned to a later date following a hearing this week.
