Judge testifies at Lyle Howe's disciplinary hearing

Suspended Halifax defence lawyer Lyle Howe questioned a Nova Scotia provincial court judge Tuesday about whether race played a role in the investigation of complaints against him.

Before she was appointed to the bench, Judge Elizabeth Buckle was one of the senior lawyers retained by the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society to investigate Howe's practice.

The society accuses Howe of professional incompetence and professional misconduct and has been holding a hearing, off and on, for months. If found guilty, Howe could be disbarred.

Howe tried to subpoena several provincial court judges to testify at the disciplinary hearing. But the three-member panel hearing the case denied all subpoenas for judges, except Buckle. Howe's questioning must be confined to the work she did for the society and he cannot ask her about her time on the bench.

'Overly broad' inquiry

On Tuesday, Howe described Buckle as "one of the culprits" in what he said was an inquiry that was "overly broad" and "hyper-vigilant."Howe has argued that he has been held to a higher standard than other lawyers because he is black.

Buckle testified that when she reviewed his practice she felt the hourly rate Howe was charging clients was too high. But she said her opinion was based on his lack of experience, not his race.

Howe asked Buckle whether she ever considered race as a factor in how he was treated. She said yes, but she also said it didn't affect her investigation.

"The concerns I saw, I couldn't see how the colour of your skin was relevant," Buckle said.

She said she was asked to look at his performance as a lawyer and that was based on facts, not race.

"I felt very confident you would be treated the same way by me if you were white," she said.

'I wasn't out to get you'

Buckle'sreport to the barristers'society notedsome concerns she had with Howe's practice.

Howe said when he was called to an interview with Buckle, he was asked to bring some files with him. He saidthe questioning went beyond those files and he felt it was unfair because he wasn't warned ahead of time about the full scope of the questioning.

Howesaid he felt Buckle was out to get him.

"Just to be clear, I didn't always want you out and I wasn't out to get you," Buckle told the disciplinary hearing. Her interview with Howe lasted about six hours and yielded a transcript more than 330 pages long.

Howe said part of his animosity towardBuckle was that he lost at least two clients to her. She countered that she lost at least one client to him and she said clients switching lawyers is not uncommon in criminal law practices.

13 cases

Buckle said the society sent her transcripts for 13 cases where Howe had appeared before judges in Dartmouth. Buckle said she wasn't told what the concerns were with the cases, so she had to review them herself to see if there was a problem.

She said in one case, she felt Howe was singled out unfairly.

The complaints panel is determined to wrap up thedisciplinary hearing by the end of next month. But Howe has ruptured his Achillestendon and is now hobbling around on crutches. He said his health is more important to him than disbarment and he's arguing to delay or slow the pace of hearings.

Buckle is expected to continue her testimony on Wednesday.

The CBC's Blair Rhodes live bloggedfrom Tuesday'shearing.