Peter Nygard in search of yet another new lawyer, after previous candidate declines citing conflict

Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard is once again looking for a new lawyer, after the one he was trying to retain told a Winnipeg court he couldn't take on the job.

Tim Valgardson said he came to the realization "that taking on the case or accepting the retainer would put me in conflict" sometime after Nygard's most recent court appearance last month.

"I immediately advised the Crown of that so they wouldn't send particulars to me, and advised the Crown that I'd be appearing today to advise the court of that," the lawyer told provincial court Associate Chief Judge Tracey Lord on Tuesday morning.

"So it's my understanding in speaking with Mr. Nygard's personal representative, your honour, that he's in the process of retaining alternate counsel."

Valgardson did not provide further details about the nature of the conflict.

Nygard himself did not call in for the court appearance, as he hasdone previously. The case was adjourned until May 14.

Nygard's previous lawyer, Brian Greenspan, withdrew from the case in January for "ethical reasons," telling a judge there had been "an irreconcilable breakdown in the solicitor-client relationship" that he characterized as "adversarial."

Nygard was charged with sexual assault and unlawful confinement in Winnipeg last summer, in connection with an alleged sexual assault of a 20-year-old woman in November 1993. Those charges have not been proven in court.

In anothercase last year, a Toronto jury found Nygard guilty of four counts of sexual assault following a six-week trial. He was acquitted of one of five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.