Good Day Readers:
The following Witness Impact Statement was tendered by Mr. Alex Chapman at yesterday's Law Society of Manitoba disciplinary hearing for member Mr. Jack King. Alex Chapman asked Ms Heather Leonoff, Chair of the three person disciplinary committee for permission to address the panel but was denied on the basis of procedural considerations.
Two points. We have not independently confirmed or verified the accuracy of statements made in the WIS. To the best of our knowledge The Legal Profession Act and Regulations governing operations of the LSM falls silent on the issue of Witness Impact Statements. Any formatting such as bold, underlining or italics are those of its author.
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
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Impact Statement of Alexander Chapman regarding Jack Anthony King
I would like to have the opportunity to orally cite the following impact statement to the LSM at the hearing on March 28, 2011. The actions of Mr. King in 2003 and during the recent legal actions in 2010 did grievous harm to me personally, both emotionally and professionally.
EMOTIONAL IMPACT
I was exceptionally stressed in 2003 by the non-stop harassment of Mr. King to arrange a rendezvous with his wife Ms. Lori Douglas. I felt I had to pretend to go along with them so that Mr. King would finish his work on my divorce case - which I had hired him to handle. I was paying him for his legal services but became fearful that by refusing the sexual invitations, I would somehow jeopardize how my divorce case would be handled.
At the same time as this was happening I was also dealing with the stress of losing my family here through the divorce as well as worrying about my father's health as he had had a stroke and was extremely ill. I had to return to Tobago in December 2002to assist in health care arrangements. Because of the necessity of returning to Tobago, I had to delay the divorce proceedings. I was advised at that time that I could be fined if I was to delay the divorce proceedings another time. Mr. King was aware fo all these issues.
My divorce case was in court starting April 14, 2003. Up to that time, all my dealings with Mr. King were professional and satisfactory. I was happy with his handling of my divorce. April 15, the 2nd day of my divorce hearing, is when Mr. King broached the topic of my personal life and activities. As Mr. King's "solicitation"of me escalated, I started to worry about the implications on my divorce proceedings if I did not appear to be going along with him. I already knew that I could not stop my proceedings to secure another lawyer.... I had already been warned about that. I felt trapped. I resorted to sleeping in my office so I could truthfully say I was at work and unable to take time away from my professional duties. I dreaded seeing Mr. King's phone number on my call display.
One day my boss came into the office and found me sleeping there. When he asked what I was doing there I told him what was happening to me and that I was frightened. My boss told me I needed to find a way to deal with this. But the problem was how to do this...I could not trust any lawyers now. I just wanted my divorce to be completed. I did seek another lawyer to help me make the problem of the sexual solicitation stop, and to complete the signing and filing of documentation for the divorce.
Once my complaint was filed through my new lawyer, Mr. king started calling me daily and leaving messages - for about 2 weeks. I did not return his calls but I did report all the calls to my new lawyer. Within approximately one month, my lawyer advised me of what I was being "offered" by Mr. King and indicated that I did not care; I just wanted it all to stop. I just wanted my lawyer to make the harassment stop. I wanted to be very clear to express that this "deal" with a "confidentiality agreement was drafted without any input from me; documents that have indicated I was cc'd on them, never came to me. I was then presented a document for signature wrongly initialed and drafted by Mr. King's lawyer, who was also the Chairman of the MB Law Society Benchers at that time. That document's sole purpose was to make ti impossible for me to legally revisit what had happened to me before any authority. At the time I just wanted it all to stop and to go away. I was warned that these were powerful people and I realized I could not afford to pursue the complaint about what had happened.
(Page 2 of 3)
But it did not go away for me personally. It haunted me. It is difficult for me to trust anyone in the legal profession and that has carried over into my personal life. In 2010 I went to a psychologist for assistance, but when she heard my story she told me she had been aware of this case as was "the entire legal community and social services" and she sarcastically wished me luck getting any help. I did eventually see a different psychologist and received a report detailing the "unusual chronic stressors experienced over the past several years" (report attached).
Note: No copy of the report referenced in the above paragraph was attached to the copy of the Victim Impact Statement we were given.
Since my complaint to the MB Law Society regarding Mr. Jack King and to the Canadian Judicial Council regarding Ms. Lori Douglas, my name has been slandered in the public newspapers and other media by Mr. King's lawyer, Mr. Bill Gange. In 2010, a previous employer received a voice mail message from Mr. King wherein Mr. King maligned and slandered me. His message identified himself and said he was calling because I was suing him for $10 million and he wanted to "get information" on him (i.e., me). I can only assume that this was not the only telephone inquiry Mr. King made seeking to "get information" about me. I feel violated and victimized.
On top of this, in October 2010, I was exceptionally insulted to receive from my lawyer communication from Mr. King's lawyer's offices with a "Sworn Declaration" that they wrote stating that I was apologizing to Mr. Jack King and Ms. Lori Douglas! Not only was I to appologize to them, but I was to do it publicly, and they could use the signed document however they saw fit. I was also to sign an affidavit confirming that the allegations against Justice Douglas were in fact not true - they wanted me to sign a document saying that I had made all of this up! - I refused to do that.
Mr. Jack King has stated in his written response to my complaint to the LSM that he was "depressed" because of the illness of his family and because the President of South Africa, Robert Mugabe, was taking away "his family's land" and the land of Furthermore his lawyer Mr. Bill Gange, who at the time was the Bencher and Chairman of the Law Society's Discipline Authority, also stated that "Mr. King's actions were out of character" and similarly Mr. Gange comments that "he (Mr. King) was suffering from depression. His behaviour was out of character. There is no suggestion that anything similar has happened or will happen in the future. In short, the seven year record of Mr. King is an indication that the public is not at risk." But Mr. King in fact did not act alone and there appears to be a problem with silencing a victim such as I from approaching "authorities" unless "compelled by law" by the terms of a contract drafted by themselves which is now publicly known to be a purported "confidentiality agreement." I am personally aware of another situation where a particular individual is afraid to come forward for fear of retaliation. Also I am aware of another outstand complaint before the LSM involving Mr. King and others. I believe others will come forward. It is now publicly known that it was Jack King who advertised over the internet eight months before I hired him to handle my divorce. Overall, I believe his actions and the actions of others to be an abuse of power and suthority by those who are in place to protect the interests of citizens and divorcing clients of Thomson Dorfman Sweatman and within the legal community.
(Page 3 of 3)
FINANCIAL IMPACT (Civil rights and Labour/workplace rights)
Up until the time the story went public, I had been employed at Great West Life, a subsidiary of the Power Corporation of Canada, for 3 years. I have 3 years of glowing performance evaluations noting that I was a "great asset" to the company in my professional and specialized employment capacity there.
The CBC interviewed Jack King at 9:00 a.m. about the story and on that same day, at 3:30 p.m., I was called into a meeting at GWL and I was suspended and later terminated. Great West Life even circulated a memo to all employees advising I was no longer with the company before they ever advised me of that decision.
In October 2010 Mr. King and Mr. Gange had my main home computer seized because they presumed they could secure all the information on that computer and keep it off the internet. The information they sought to keep off the internet still circulates there today in spite of the fact they had my computer seized. It is being held by Sherriff's office. This is my main home computer that I use for personal business. I would like to know why it has not been returned to me.
Mr. King's lawyer used personal confidential information to publicly slander me. The information was given to Mr. King under lawyer/client privilege, but Mr. King obviously saw fit to share that information with Mr. Gange who then turned around and used it to slander me in the media. A criminal conviction from over 20 years ago, which had actually been removed from my criminal record and used as supposed proof of my lack of integrity.
I have not been able to secure an equivalent position or employment since. There has been considerable financial impact. The damage to me professionally is hugely significant.
My experiences in 2010 have shown me that I was right to be afraid in 2003. I could not have withstood all the negative impacts of my life at that time.
In closing, I want to say that Mr. Jack King did not protect me; Ms. Lori Douglas did not protect me; Mr. Bill Gange a bencher of LSM did not protect me, the law firm Thompson Dorfman Sweatman Jack King's firm who owed a duty to me did not protect me, the Law Society of Manitoba did not protect me, the police and the provincial crown did not protect me, and my employer terminated me. I am a minority citizen and a victim.
As a member of the public that you are meant to serve and protect, I ask you - where should I have gone to protect my rights from all this interference during "separation and divorce" proceedings in the province of Manitoba? They have proven to be a collective failure in their duty to protect me and to protect the public and I remain in fear of the Justice System and further retaliation.
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