'A poor choice': Alberta lawyer reprimanded for allowing nude photos in custody case
A hearing committee of the Law Society of Alberta says there are reasonable and probable grounds to believe that a lawyer may have committed a criminal offence after “explicit and nude” photos of a woman were included as part of an affidavit in a custody case.
The self-governing body has reprimanded lawyer Karen Herrington of Sherwood Park, Alta., for bringing the administration of justice into disrepute and failing to provide competent legal services. She has been reprimanded and ordered to pay $5,400 in costs.
Herrington was representing the husband in a common-law custody dispute.
The law society says the husband sent an affidavit to Herrington that was aimed at preventing his former partner from leaving the province and included intimate photos of her.
Herrington asked other members of her law firm what she should do, but ultimately decided to include the pictures in the affidavit, the regulator says.
“It was thought by Ms. Herrington that the pictures showed a pattern of behaviour from the wife and that she needed the affidavit for the emergency application the next morning,” Ryan Anderson, writing on behalf of a three-person hearing committee of the law society, says in the ruling.
“She consulted other lawyers in her office for their advice and made this decision to proceed. This does not leave Ms. Herrington blameless, but goes to show this was not a simple situation,” he said.
“Ms. Herrington appears to be a capable lawyer who made a poor choice.”
The opposing lawyer asked that the nude photos of his client be removed. They were blacked out before being filed in court.
Herrington admitted her guilt in that she failed to provide legal services to the standard of a competent lawyer and said it was an error to include the pictures.
The committee's decision says Herrington did not know the nude photos had been added to the affidavit by her client until the afternoon or day before the emergency application, and she could not alter the affidavit because her client had already sworn it.
A lawyer for Herrington noted that she “felt she was stuck in a difficult situation of proceeding with the application and relying on the affidavit or not meeting her client obligations. This was an emergency mobility application that required quick action,” the decision says.
The decision says counsel for the law society noted that Herrington's actions potentially contravened the Criminal Code, which prohibits the publication of an intimate image without consent. They recommended the file be sent to Alberta's solicitor general.
“The committee finds that there are reasonable and probable grounds that Ms. Herrington contravened Section 161.1 of the Criminal Code and as such we are obligated to make a referral to the solicitor general,” the panel says.
“Ms. Herrington may very well have a defence but that is not up to our committee to decide.”
The decision says Herrington's counsel “indicated that there was nothing criminal about the affidavit as it met the test for the public good under the Criminal Code.” The decision notes there is a public good defence under the Criminal Code in the section that deals with the publication of intimate images.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the office of Solicitor General Kaycee Madu. Strathcona Law Group, where Herrington works, also had no immediate comment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
‘We made them safer and more fun’: Here’s what’s new about e-scooters
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have been gaining popularity in the capital and this season comes with some changes and updates.