Lyle Howe discipline hearing prompted by 'enormous volume' of complaints

The second day of a disciplinary hearing for Halifax defence lawyer Lyle Howe wrapped up Friday afternoon.

Howe has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of professional misconduct and professional incompetence before a disciplinary committee of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society.

The society has dropped an eighth charge that accused Howe of trying to steal a client from another lawyer.

The CBC's Blair Rhodes live blogged from the hearing.

On Friday morning Victoria Rees, director of professional responsibility with the barristers' society, told the disciplinary panel an "enormous volume" of complaints against Howe led to the hearing.

Advice from senior lawyers

She said the society compiled court dockets to show the number of times Howe was scheduled to be in two or more courts at one time. 

A senior lawyer met with Howe to discuss deficiencies in his practice in February 2014, according to Rees. She said th lawyer told Howe he did a poor job of communicating with vulnerable clients, particularly in writing. 

Several high-profile lawyers offered Howe advice but he ignored it, Rees told the panel. 

The society had a second meeting with Howe to discuss the issues in March 2015, Rees said. Despite multiple warnings, she said the society found Howe was still double-booking court appearances.

At the time, Howe was facing sexual assault-related charges. Howe was found guilty of sexual assault in May 2014, but his conviction was later overturned on appeal. 

The barristers' society was concerned about how he was running his practice during his sexual assault trial, given his staff were also attending it. 

Howe accuses Rees of bias

Howe cross-examined Rees and said some of the cases where he appeared to be double-booked were handled by his wife and law partner, Laura McCarthy. He also said some of the court dates were for simple matters that could be delegated to other lawyers. 

Howe accused Rees of being biased against him and of tainting the complaints process. She denied being biased.

Howe told the hearing he had no double-bookings after April 2014, due in part to the sexual assault trial that started that May. After that, he said the lawyers who handled his practice while he was suspended following his conviction booked court dates. He suggested they may have made it appear that he was the one double-booking. 

But Crown attorney Melanie Perry testified Friday about two serious Dartmouth cases she was prosecuting in which Howe was double-booked and unable to make court dates.

Perry said the delays caused problems with witnesses that she had scheduled to attend the trials.

Howe did not finish his cross-examination of Rees on Friday. The complaints panel is trying to find time before Christmas to resume the cross-examination. The next scheduled hearing day isn't until early January.

The charges against Howe deal with allegations that date between 2011 and 2014. Among the allegations, he is accused of double or triple-booking himself in court, poorly documenting his clients' files and providing poor quality of service.

He is also accused of misleading the court in proceedings before Nova Scotia judges Timothy Gabriel and Alanna Murphy.