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Printer friendlyLaw Society deals with Deanna Natale's disciplinary hearing at meeting held on January 5, 2011
At 8:30 a.m. on January 5, 2011, in a small meeting room at The Law Society, based upon a joint submission by The Law Society's Discipline Counsel Amanda Worley, and Mark Lapowich, one of Ms. Natale's lawyers, a decision was made to adjourn Ms. Natale's 2-day disciplinary hearing scheduled for January 11, 2011, At this meeting at The Law Society on January 5, 2011, no new date was set for Ms. Natale's 2-day disciplinary hearing. If, and when, Ms. Natale is to have a disciplinary hearing before The Law Society remains to be seen. Ms. Worley signed the Notice of Application containing particulars of the alleagations of misconduct against Deanna Natale on June 15, 2009, and the Notice of Application was filed with the Tribunals Office at The Law Society on June 26, 2009. Some 19 months after this Notice of Application has been filed The Law Society has yet to hold a disciplinary hearing. However, counsel representing The Law Society did consent to an adjournment of a 2-day disciplinary hearing scheduled for November 16, 2010, and January 11, 2011.
It appears that there have been "new developments" in the Deanna Natale disciplinary hearing which have encouraged both The Law Society and Ms. Natale to agree to an adjournment. Ms. Natale's 2-day disciplinary hearing was originally scheduled for November 16, 2010. On November 1, 2010, the day after the CBC News broke the story that collection lawyer Deanna Natale was facing disciplinary charges, Mark Lapowich, one of Ms. Natale's lawyers, appeared before The Law Society's Proceedings Management Conference requesting an adjournment because Ms. Natale's lawyer, William Trudell, had an important conference to attend which conflicted with November 16th and November 17th. Accordingly, the Chair Panelist at PMC made an order that Ms. Natale's disciplinary hearing, originally scheduled for November 16, 2010, was to be adjourned to January 11, 2011.
On December 23, 2010, Amanda Worley, the Discipline Lawyer at The Law Society responsible for "prosecuting" Ms. Natale, sent a one-page fax dated December 23, 2010, to everyone who had filed a complaint against Ms. Natale to The Law Society, stating that "The Law Society is in the process of investigating and assessing new information which has recently come to our attention. In this letter to complainants against Ms. Natale Ms. Worley stated that "It is possible that the hearing may not proceed as scheduled on January 11 and 12, 2011, as the parties require time to absorb these new developments and assess how they impact on the case."
Lawyer Mark Silverthorn has obtained a copy of the transcript of the 13-minute proceeding at 8:30 a.m. at the Proceedings Managements Conference at The Law Society on Wednesday, January 5, 2011, at which time a decision was made not to go ahead with Ms. Natale's 2-day disciplinary hearing on January 11, 2011, and January 12, 2011. Mark Silverthorn drove from Kitchener to Toronto in order to observe the proceedings as part of his research for his new book, tentatively titled Draft Statement of Claim Gate: The Scandal That Rocked The Canadian Collection Industry.
If you read this transcript you will understand why it is has taken more than 19 months for Ms. Natale to have a disciplinary hearing before The Law Society.
