Longtime London-area lawyer disbarred, ordered to pay nearly $45K to law society

A longtime London-area lawyer has had his law licence revoked and has been ordered to pay nearly $45,000 to the Law Society of Ontario.

It comes after the law society's tribunal determined James Battin engaged in professional misconduct, including by circumventing Legal Aid Ontario's (LAO) billing requirements, and privately billing an LAO client in violation of provincial law.

In decisions dated Dec. 13, 2024 and May 15, 2025, the tribunal also determined Battin appropriated nearly $12,000 from a trust containing funds from the sale of his client's matrimonial home, which were being held pending a settlement in the client's matrimonial legal dispute. 

Battin never declared to LAO that funds from the sale, $31,175, were held in trust, or that a settlement was ultimately reached in the dispute, which centred around the division of the funds between the client and her ex, the tribunal wrote.

"When her authorized hours were almost exhausted, (Battin) wrote LAO requesting further hours to proceed to trial. He was denied," the tribunal wrote.

Battin told the tribunal he entered into a private arrangement with the client to secure payment for time already spent preparing for the trial, the tribunal wrote.

The client told the tribunal she didn't agree to privately retain him, and was never provided with, nor signed a private retainer agreement, the tribunal wrote.

The client never complained about his conduct or service and was aware what was going on at all times, and knowingly agreed to pay him privately, the tribunal quotes Battin.

Regardless, any such arrangement is prohibited by LAO, the tribunal wrote. 

"The Lawyer then unilaterally and deliberately took $11,849.65 from trust to pay himself what he felt he was owed."

CBC News contacted Battin's office by phone for comment. The individual who answered the phone said no comment would be offered, and suggested that Battin was currently "very sick."

The client's LAO certificate came with a contribution agreement that she repay legal costs from any funds recovered, something normally secured with a lien on property.

No lien was placed on the client's matrimonial home, which LAO admitted was an error. Battin argued the regulatory proceeding would not have occurred had one been in place.

Although his client's dispute was settled in court in April 2019, in an LAO billing days later, Battin denied there had been a settlement, or that funds were held in trust, the tribunal says.

LAO ordered Battin to return the money in November 2019, but it took until earlier this year for all of it to be returned, the tribunal says. 

"The Lawyer's conduct reflects a lack of integrity, honesty, and trustworthiness," the tribunal says.

"It was undertaken deliberately in violation of well-established rules, undertakings, and fiduciary obligations; it was done for his personal gain to the detriment of a vulnerable LAO client."

Battin was called to the bar in 1980, and operated a practice in Tillsonburg serving 250 to 300 clients at any given time, the tribunal says.

He was a member of the local LAO family law panel for over 25 years, and served as deputy judge of the Ontario Small Claims Court since 1992.

Recently, Battin has represented former Woodstock Mayor Trevor Birtch during his sexual assault trials. 

Court documents show that during a May 5 court appearance for Birtch, the court heard Battin was absent and in hospital after suffering an "unfortunate and serious injury." No further detail is provided, and sentencing submissions were adjourned to Aug. 15.