You are a paralegal that owns their own practice that specializes in the defence of provincial offenses and landlord-tenant matters. On August 5, Eva Green is scheduled for a 1:30 pm consult
You are a paralegal that owns their own practice that specializes in the defence of provincial offenses and landlord-tenant matters. On August 5, Eva Green is scheduled for a 1:30 pm consultation to meet with you at your office to discuss a residential tenancies matter. According to your legal secretary, she wants you to assist her with an application to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an abatement of rent on the grounds of breach of landlord obligations. Your secretary is late from her lunch and when you arrive late at 1:45, Eva is sitting in the office alone. You don’t introduce yourself. To hide your embarrassment that your legal secretary is not there to greet the client and explain that you are “running late “from court, you walk by and appear to hunt for a file. You can’t find the file so when your secretary rushes into the office from lunch, you slam the file cabinet and say, “legal secretaries never keep an eye on the time. She probably was shopping for a hot date.” You roughly grab the file from your secretary’s desk and usher Eva into your office, still laughing at your shopping comment. You learn that Eva’s first language is French and her English is not very good so she seems confused when you ask her questions. Your French is high school level at best. Based on your understanding of what she tells you, you do not think she has a good case. It seems to you that her complaints have more to do with her personal dislike of the property manager and building manager than with any of the legal grounds set out in the Residential Tenancies Act. However, you are familiar with Eva’s landlord, having acted for them in the past on similar tenant applications, although for a different building. You have not had any work from that landlord for over a year, but you figure that your previous experience in the past matters will give you a head start in this application. In addition, you need the money, so you encourage her to proceed with the application. You smile as you think silently about her pretty legs. Page 5 of 6 At the end of the interview, Eva indicates that she would like to retain you, but can’t afford to pay more than $400.00 until her next paycheque, which she will receive in a week’s time, on August 12. You accept the $400.00 in cash and give her a receipt. You tell her that you will require an additional $300.00 for all services up to the hearing, that any disbursements will be included in that amount, and that you will charge an additional $500.00 if the matter goes to hearing. You also tell her that the $300.00 must be paid by August 19 or you will withdraw your services. She tells you that she can afford to pay part of the $300.00 from her next paycheque and that she will borrow the rest from family members. You shake hands, and she leaves. You deposit the $400.00 directly into your general account to cover some bills that you have to pay. Based on what you remember from your conversation with Eva Green, you draft the application. You sign it as her paralegal. You attend at the Board to obtain a hearing date, serve the landlord with the application, and notice of hearing, and file the certificate of service. On August 12, Eva fails to pay you anything. You wait until August 19, the deadline you set for payment of the $300.00 she still owes you, then phone her at home. An adult male answers the phone and identifies himself as her husband. In a harsh voice, you leave the following message: “Please tell Eva that I’m no longer representing her in that landlord and tenant matter. Also, she still owes me $300.00, and I’d appreciate it if she paid up as soon as possible.” Later the same day, you receive an angry telephone call from Eva. She tells you that she thought the $400.00 fee covered everything, including the hearing. She also thought she could pay in installments. She accuses you of stealing her money and doing nothing. She is also angry because you left a message about her personal affairs with another person. She demands that you return her “papers” and her money so she can hire someone else to represent her. You tell her that, as far as you are concerned, she still owes you $300.00. However, you could meet for a drink at the local bar if she wanted to discuss the “installment” fee in a more intimate setting. When she does not respond, you tell her you don’t have any “papers” to give her, because you don’t open files for simple matters like hers. You advise her to obtain copies of her forms from the tribunal. You also tell her that she has a hearing scheduled for Monday, August 29, and she had better show up because you don’t intend to unless you see some money first. Eva tells you she has to work the day shift on August 29 and that she cannot miss work because she will be fired. You tell her that that is not your problem and hang up. On August 29, no one appears on Eva’s application except the landlord’s paralegal, who is present at the tribunal on some other matters as well. The application is dismissed.
QUESTIONS:
Have you behaved appropriately?
Please identify all ethical and professional issues that arise in the fact situation above.
Indicate the Rule #, Guideline, and/or related Bylaw
Discuss what you should have done in the circumstances to comply with your professional obligations.
referring the scenerio above, mention the following:
– 4 case law regarding the case (case brief format) – site the website link for each case –
These may be court cases or Law Society Tribunal decisions
– 15 or more PROFESSIONAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
– 15 or more APPLICABLE PARALEGAL RULES/BY-LAWS
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