Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

OTTAWA-A man allegedly drumming up legal business by posing as a paralegal was effectively barred from the Ottawa courthouse Thursday.

Gary Pierre, recently convicted of fraud in Gatineau, appeared in the prisoner?s dock in Ottawa court to justify why he should continue representing Jacques Racine, an Ottawa man accused of drunk driving.

Racine, who had been having difficulty contacting Pierre, learned for the first time Thursday that his legal representative had recently been sentenced to 15 months in Gatineau jail. He immediately fired Pierre.

Justice Lise Maisonneuve said Pierre was not qualified in any way to represent defendants in an Ontario court and based on expert advice from a court interpreter, rejected his claim that the word ?EXCRIM? written on his business card means ?to assist? in Swahili.

The word, she added, does not even exist in Swahili.

Pierre charged a fixed rate of $50 an hour for his services ? significantly less than the hourly rate of qualified lawyers.

Maisonneuve ordered all of Pierre?s previous involvement in the Racine case struck from the record ? a precedent, say lawyers, that will prevent him from representing others after he leaves jail.

Defence lawyer James Foord, one of several lawyers in court watching the proceedings, welcomed the judge?s decision.

?Our No. 1 concern,? he said, ?is that individuals aren?t being misled by ineffective and illegal assistance. We have had some concerns (about Pierre) for a while.?

Pierre, who has appeared as a legal representative several times at the Ottawa courthouse, denied the allegations and said he had always been open about his lack of formal legal qualification ? and asked clients to sign a release that they understood his status.

A motion by assistant Crown attorney Paul Attia to have Pierre held in contempt of court was rejected.