Q.   Has a date been set for collection lawyer Deanna Natale’s disciplinary hearing before The Law Society of Upper Canada?

Kelly,  Nelson, British Columbia

A.   Yes.  At a meeting of the The Law Society’s Proceedings Management Conference (PMC) held on April 21, 2011, Deanna Natale’s disciplinary hearing was scheduled for five days, for the week of September 12, 2011.

Twenty-two months after The Law Society filed a Notice of Application, alleging professional misconduct on the part of collection lawyer Deanna Natale, Ms. Natlale and The Law Society have been unable to agree upon the relevant facts with respect to The Law Society’s “charges” against Ms. Natale.  In the absence of an Agreed Statement of Facts, it is anticipated that this will be a fully contested hearing and The Law Society will call witnesses.  The Law Society has informed a significant number of individuals they they may be called as a witness at Deanna Natale’s disciplinary hearing.

On April 21, 2011, Mr. Lapowich, the lawyer appearing on behalf of Ms. Natale at PMC, indicated that it was Ms. Natale’s intention to bring a motion for a stay of her disciplinary hearing.  In the event that this motion for a stay were successful The Law Society would be prevented from pursuing its professional misconduct “charges” against Ms. Natale.  You can read the entire transcript of the 18-minute PMC meeting held on April 21, 2011 by clicking on the following link: april-21-2011-transcript.  

Markham, Ontario lawyer Deanna Natale is the daughter of Judy Sgro, a former federal Liberal cabinet minister who is a sitting Member of Parliament for York West.

On March 30, 2011, three weeks before lawyer Deanna Natale, was to set a date for a disciplinary hearing in connection with her law firm’s use of draft statement of claims. the Liberal Government at Queen’s Park repealed the Ontario Debt Collectors Act, a law that would appear to have prohibited collection agencies from hiring lawyers to send out draft statement of claims to Ontario residents.  Some observers are curious about the timing of the repeal of the Ontario Debt Collectors Act.  Some people might think the Liberal Government at Queen’s Park repealed the Ontario Debt Collectors Act to assist Deanna Natale, who has close ties to the Liberal Party.

To learn more about Ms. Natale’s disciplinary hearing and her law firm’s high-volume debt collection practice, including her firm’s use of draft statement of claims, and the conduct of the Ontario Registrar of Collection Agencies, you may want to visit the following webpage http://www.collection-calls.ca/natale-homepage.html 

At the present time I am writing a book, tentatively titled Draft Statement of Claim-Gate:  The Scandal That Rocked The Canadian Collection Industry.  This book focuses on Deanna Natale’s disciplinary matter before The Law Society, her law firm’s high-volume collection practice, and her law firm’s use of draft statement of claims.  This book will also explore the role of provincial agencies responsible for regulating the conduct of bill collectors.

Q.  Is it true is that the Ontario Government recently changed the law to make it easier for lawyers to send draft statement of claims to Ontario residents?  In the future are Ontario consumers going to see more draft statement of claims from lawyers sent on behalf of collection agencies?

Susan in Orillia

A.  It would appear that the answer is yes.  On March 30th, 2011, the Ontario Good Government Act, 2011, received Royal Assent.  Section 3 of Schedule 2 of the Good Government Act, 2011, repealed the Ontario Debt Collectors Act.

The Ontario Debt Collectors Act, prior to its repeal, would appear to have prohibited lawyers from sending draft statement of claims to Ontario residents on behalf of collection agencies.  Now the McGuinty Government at Queen’s Park has repealed the Ontario Debt Collectors Act.  It would now seem that lawyers will be able to send draft statement of claims to Ontario residents provided they do not contravene the Rules of Professional Conduct governing their conduct. 

Given the considerable negative publicity that draft statement of claims have generated over the past six months in the media it seems odd that the McGuinty Government would make the decision now to repeal the Ontario Debt Collectors Act and make it easier for lawyers to send draft statement of claims to Ontario residents on behalf of collection agencies.  A cynical person might come to the conclusion that the purpose of the repeal of the Ontario Debt Collectors Act is a move by the McGuinty Liberals designed to help a Liberal in hot water, collection lawyer Deanna Natale, daughter of Liberal MP Judy Sgro, who is facing a disciplinary hearing before The Law Society of Upper Canada in connection with her law firm’s high-volume debt collection practice and her firm’s use of draft statement of claims. 

The Law Society of Upper Canada is expected to set a date for Ms. Natale’s disciplinary hearing on Thursday, April 21, 2011.  You can learn more about draft statement of claims and Ms. Natale’s disciplinary matter at the following link:  http://www.collection-calls.ca/natale-homepage.html

Q.  I recently watched a Youtube video in which you denied being sued for $500K by collection lawyer Deanna Natale:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxMsevZC3gs  Where can I learn more about Deanna Natale, draft statement of claims, and her disciplinary matter before The Law Society?

A.  My website, www.helpwithcollectioncalls.ca, has more than 50 webpages of material in connection with Markham, Ontario collection lawyer Deanna Natale and her disciplinary matter before The Law Society of Upper Canada.  The most detailed coverage of Deanna Natale’s disciplinary matter can be found at http://www.collection-calls.ca/natale-homepage.html 

In mid-November of 2010 I wrote a letter to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty calling for the resignation of the Ontario Minister of Consumer Services for the Ontario Government’s failure to adequately enforce existing laws designed to protect Ontarians from abusive behavior by bill collectors.  You can learn more about this topic by visiting http://www.collection-calls.ca/mark-calls-resignation.html 

In 2010 Canadian publisher McClelland & Stewart published my first book titled The Wolf At The Door:  What To Do When Collection Agencies Come Calling.  I am now working on my next book titled Draft Statement of Claim Gate:  The Scandal That Rocked The Canadian Collection Industry.  This book will contain a significant amount of material in connection with Ms. Natale’s disciplinary matter before The Law Society.

Q.    I watched the recent episode of CBC Marketplace in which host Erica Johnson asked Brian Pitkin, the Ontario Registrar of Collection Agencies, about Global Credit & Collection Inc.’s practice of hiring collection lawyer Deanna Natale to send out draft statement of claims to Ontario residents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjp4X1bfGkg    Brian Pitkin warned collection agencies not to engage in this practice in a letter to collection agencies dated October 27, 2008 (http://www.collection-calls.ca/Copy%20of%20Pitkin20091027.pdf).   Why did it take Brian Pitkin more than 2 years to stop Global Credit & Collection Inc. from engaging in this practice?

A.   That is certainly a question I want to see answered.  It raises the question as to when did Brian Pitkin first learn that Global Credit & Collection Inc was hiring collection lawyer Deanna Natale to send out draft statement of claims after Mr. Pitkin sent out his warning letter dated October 27, 2008?  In November of 2010 I wrote a letter to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty calling for the resignation of the Ontario Minister of Consumer Services, the minister responsible for enforcing Ontario laws designed to protect consumers from abusive behavior by bill collectors.

Earlier this year I received a letter dated January 24, 2011, from Ms. Barbara Duckitt, a Director at the Consumer Protection Branch, Ministry of Consumer Services, who responded on behalf of the Honourable John Gerretsen, the Minister of Consumer Services.jan-24-2011-letter-from-barbara-duckitt2  In her letter she referred to a meeting Brian Pitkin had with representatives from Global Credit & Collection Inc. on November 12, 2010, at which time the Registrar “made them aware of the consequences of continued contravention of the Act.” I was intrigued by the following sentence in her letter:

Statistics gathered by the Ministry with respect to complaints against collection agencies indicate a signficant reduction in the number of complaints relating to the issuance of draft Statements of Claim following the action taken by the Registrar.

This letter would certainly seem to suggest that (1) Global Credit & Collection Inc. was engaging in behavior that contravened the Act, (2) that the Ministry kept statistics as to public complaints concerning the use of draft statement of claims, and (3) that the Ministry received public complaints invoving draft statement of claims before November 12, 2010.

Ms. Duckitt’s letter raises additional questions.  On what date did Brian Pitkin first learn about Global’s practice of hiring Natale Law Offices to send out draft statement of claims?  Furthermore, if the Ministry was receiving public complaints about draft statement of claims before November 12, 2010, why was no action taken to stop this illegal behavior?

Q.  In  a recent blog post you indicated that you would provide updates in connection with Deanna Natale’s disciplinary hearing before The Law Society of Upper Canada.  Do you have anything new to report?

Andrew, Antigonish, Nova Scotia

A.   Yes.  On Friday, March 11th at the Proceedings Management Conference (PMC) at The Law Society a decision was made to set a date for Deanna Natale’s disciplinary hearing on Thursday, April 21, 2011, at 9:30 a.m.  This means that sometime on April 21st we should expect that a date will have been set for Ms. Natale’s disciplinary hearing.  You can learn more by reading a copy of the transcript from the PMC meeting on March 11, 2011.march-5-2011-transcript-pmc-natale1

For the most detailed coverage of collection lawyer Deanna Natale’s disciplinary matter before The Law Society of Upper Canada you can visit http://www.collection-calls.ca/natale-homepage.html

Q.   I enjoyed watching the recent episode of CBC Marketplace that dealt with how collection agencies are treating Canadian consumers, with emphasis on Ontario.  At the end of the program host Erica Johnson questioned Brian Pitkin, the senior civil servant in Ontario responsible for regulationg collection agencies, about his lack of enthusiasm for stopping the practice of collection agencies hiring lawyers to send draft statement of claims to Ontario residents.  I was under the impression that collection lawyer Deanna Natale was facing professional misconduct charges in connection with her use of draft statement of claims.  Has she had her disciplinary hearing, and if not, when will The Law Society be holding this disciplinary hearing?

Ron, Windsor, Ontario

A.  That is an excellent question.  On June 15, 2009, Amanda Worley, a Discipline Counsel at The Law Society, signed a document called a Notice of Application, alleging professional misconduct on the part of Ms. Natale.  This Notice of Application raised concerns about Ms. Natale’s use of draft statement of claims and, based upon my research and knowledge of the collection industry, I think it would be fair to conclude that The Law Society has concerns about the manner in which Ms. Natlale’s staff dealt with members of the public. 

It has now been 20 months since Amanda Worley signed the Notice of Application alleging professional misconduct on the part of collection lawyer Deanna Natale and The Law Society has yet to hold a disciplinary hearing for Ms. Natale.   I have been advised that the Natale disciplinary matter is scheduled to be “spoken to” at the Proceedings Management Conference (PMC) at The Law Society on Friday, March 11th.  It is possible that at this meeting a date for a disciplinary hearing for Ms. Natale may be set or a date may be discussed.  In future posts on this blog I will provide updates on the status of the Deanna Natale disciplinary matter.