Lawyer outed as a ‘scooper’
Criminal defender offered his services to accused in murder case
The criminal defence bar is abuzz after one of their own, a Toronto lawyer named Gregory Leslie, was outed as a “scooper.”
Scooping is a nickname for the aggressive practice of soliciting clients — or, more seriously, other lawyers’ clients — usually in courthouse hallways, holding cells and detention centres.
Though the issue is considered to be an increasingly serious problem by some lawyers, and though the subject certainly has stirred up discussion on the lawyers’ website where Leslie’s letter was posted, the document is so full of brimming self-importance, run-on sentences and spelling mistakes, it has also been a source of considerable mirth.
Until 2002, pretty much the only marketing lawyers in Ontario could do was to hang out a shingle and hand out business cards.
But, says Gavin MacKenzie, whose practice focuses on professional responsibility, the non-solicitation rules were deemed to be so restrictive they actually made it more difficult for poor and ill-connected people to get a lawyer, and so they were changed.
But while active soliciting is now allowed under the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Rules of Professional Conduct, lawyers are still prohibited from influencing “a person who has retained another lawyer for a particular matter to change his or her lawyer for that matter,” and urged not to market themselves as being superior to other lawyers.
To do otherwise could be considered, in the language of the rules, to “bring the profession or the administration of justice into disrepute.”
According to a document posted Tuesday on an electronic listing for members of the Criminal Lawyers Association, a national group with about 1,000 members, Leslie wrote to Michael MacGregor, the 19-yearold who, along with a 31-year-old woman is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Sarnia, Ont., kindergarten teacher Noelle Paquette. The couple were reportedly sexual fetishists with an interest in bondage and sado-masochism.
The 27-year-old teacher went missing after leaving a New Year’s Eve party in the small southwestern Ontario city. Her body was found in a nearby wooded area outside town on Jan. 2.
By the very next day, MacGregor was represented by a London, Ont., lawyer, who was formally put on the record.
This was reported online in various newspapers in southern Ontario, including the Toronto Sun, on Jan. 4, when MacGregor and Tanya Bogdanovich made a brief court appearance. The story noted that both of MacGregor’s hands were bandaged and that “A lawyer speaking on his behalf asked the court to ensure a detention facility was made aware of Mr. MacGregor’s ‘severe injuries’.”
On Jan. 7, Leslie was writing MacGregor, modestly singing his own praises and offering his assistance.
Leslie said he specialized “in difficult murder trials” and bragged in particular about two unique skills he said he possessed.
“One of the unique challenges in these types of cases is the (question of) how to control the press,” he wrote. “I have had several years of experience in dealing with the press. I had made close contacts with many reporters (that) I would endeavour to use to assist you in your case,” he told MacGregor.
Leslie also bragged about his “tremendous” expertise in obtaining disclosure from recalcitrant Crown attorneys who don’t provide it because, Leslie said, clearly meaning to say relevant, “they feel it is not reverent.
“I have the resources and know how to obtain all the disclosure relevant to your case and prepare the best possible defence available,” he said adding, “In relation to your charge I have worked on similar cases such as yours I accept legal aid.”
He warned MacGregor not to discuss his case even with family members and reminded him “the phones in jails are monitored by the authorities and anything you say could be used against you.
“Furthermore anything you write could be intercepted and used against you,” he said. “I have worked on many cases where phone conversations from (jails) have been recorded and used against the accused.”
Delicately, Leslie did not mention the unpleasant fact that Paquette was killed.
Rather, he told MacGregor, “I have read about your arrest in the news and wanted to write you to offer my services. I have followed the developments of the disappearance of Noelle Paquette since she went missing.”
He ended the letter by saying, “If you already have a lawyer that has the experience to deal with your case I wish you the best of luck.”
But, he added, “If you do not have counsel capable of dealing with high profile murder cases please feel free to contact my office at anytime all collect calls are accepted.”
Leslie has represented several high-profile clients including one of the men convicted in the infamous Bandidos bikers’ murder trial. Though he didn’t respond to numerous messages left for him on his office or cellphone, or to text and email messages, Postmedia has confirmed the bona fides of the letter.