Lawyer disbarred for failing Roma clients
Mississauga woman ‘could not be trusted at all,’ says law society discipline panel
Mississauga lawyer Erzsebet (Elizabeth) Jaszi has been disbarred by the Law Society of Upper Canada, after the regulator found she failed to help her Roma clients with their refugee claims and billed Legal Aid for services she did not provide.
She has also been ordered to pay $50,000 in costs.
“Ms. Jaszi’s misconduct is extremely serious,” lawyer Barbara Murchie wrote in a Dec. 3 decision on behalf of a three-member disciplinary panel, which had examined the files of 13 clients. “It is the kind of conduct that sullies the reputation of the entire profession. Not only could she not be trusted to the ends of the Earth, Ms. Jaszi could not be trusted at all.”
Jaszi, who represented herself in the disciplinary proceedings, did not return the Star’s requests for comment. A Law Society spokeswoman said the matter has been referred to the police, as Jaszi was found to have “knowingly overbilled” Legal Aid Ontario in the amount of $1,026, which she was ordered to repay.
The decision to revoke Jaszi’s licence comes just months after the high-profile case of Viktor Hohots, who was found to have failed to adequately represent thousands of his Roma clients over a number of years. The society suspended his licence for five months and banned him from practising refugee law for two years.
“The immediate reaction from the Roma community was one of happiness for the acknowledgement of accountability,” said Gina Csanyi-Robah, co-founder of the Canadian Romani Alliance, of Jaszi’s penalty.
Jaszi failed her Roma clients from Hungary in a number of ways, the panel noted. Most importantly, she did not prepare accurate and complete Personal Information Forms (PIF), which the panel said “are the most important documents in the refugee application process and failure to complete them properly can significantly impact the outcome of the application for refugee status.”
Jaszi would ask clients to sign blank PIFs, and she would then fill them out herself, Murchie wrote. Jaszi also failed to attend hearings before the Immigration and Refugee Board, leaving clients unrepresented.
She also did not have the documents translated so the clients could ensure their accuracy and file them promptly. As a result, four clients got notices of abandonment regarding their applications, the panel found.
Jaszi told the panel in written sub- missions that she never lied or defrauded a client.
“She stated that she made mistakes but did not have fraudulent intent,” Murchie wrote. “Ms. Jaszi also stated that in the past few years her health has not been good and that has impacted her ability to serve her clients (and she) . . . maintained that revocation was too harsh a penalty.”
Jaszi said a more appropriate penalty would be the same punishment given to Hohots. But the panel said there had been no finding of lack of integrity or knowingly overbilling in the Hohots case and that he had cooperated with the Law Society.
The disciplinary panel noted that Jaszi’s clients were particularly vulnerable. Roma have reported being subjected to oppression and racism in Hungary.
“These were clients for whom the stakes were high,” Murchie wrote. “If their applications were denied, they would be deported back to Hungary.”
One client, Janos Balazs, said in a victim-impact statement that he and his family were indeed deported.
“Our lawyer . . . was only interested in money from legal aid and not in our fate,” he wrote. “We only met her three times during the four years. She wasn’t willing to pick up her own phone.
“I wrote to you because if there is a chance, I want to go back with my family (to Canada), because here, in Hungary, racism is too big, and they really oppress us Roma people.” With files from Nicholas Keung