Lyle Howe says exclusively white 'old boys' club' dominates defence bar in Halifax

Halifax defence lawyer Lyle Howe says the criminal defence bar in Halifax is dominated by an old boys' club that is exclusively white and over the age of 40.

Howe, who is black, made the comment Monday morning in a disciplinary hearing being conducted by the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society. The society has accused Howe of professional misconduct and professional incompetence.

Howe, in response, alleges he is a victim of systemic racism. He says the complaints that form the basis of the society hearing are unfair, because other lawyers do the same things without penalty.

Cross-examination

Howe was cross-examining John Rafferty, a senior lawyer the society commissioned to do a review of Howe's law firm, when Howe said that criminal defence work is dominated by "an old boys' club."

Rafferty responded that it was "probably true."

Howe said much of the work in Halifax goes to Joel Pink and Stan MacDonald, two long-standing criminal defence lawyers who have been called to testify at the disciplinary hearing. But Rafferty replied with the names of several other lawyers who also get a large share of defence work.

Howe asked whether these lawyers had a pecuniary interest in seeing Howe removed from practice. Rafferty said fewer lawyers would mean more work for those remaining.

Timing

Howe noted that Rafferty's review started in October 2011, a month before Howe was charged with sexual assault.

He asked Rafferty if that was a coincidence. Rafferty said he couldn't say, but that some lawyers had indicated to him criminal charges against Howe were a possibility.

Howe was originally convicted of sexual assault, but the decision was overturned on appeal. The Crown opted not to re-try Howe after the complainant indicated she didn't want to go through a second trial.

Rafferty was also appointed by the society to handle Howe's practice when he was convicted and his practice was placed in receivership.

'Understandably distracted'

Facing a three-year prison sentence, Howe said he was beside himself and couldn't focus.

"You were understandably distracted," Rafferty said.

Rafferty described the first month after he assumed receivership of Howe's practice as "absolutely chaotic" as he struggled to meet all Howe's courtroom commitments.

Rafferty said he was using up to four lawyers to handle the load and said he needed at least two because Howe's schedule frequently had him booked in two courtrooms simultaneously.

Double-booking is one of the principalcomplaints the society has made about Howe's law practice.

Howe says his caseload was manageable

Howe said his caseload was manageable and he would have been able to avoid most of the double-bookings if he was still practicing. Howe was suspendedfollowing his conviction, but he was allowed to resume practicing while he appealed his case.

Howe said Rafferty's review was done at a particularly low point and does not reflect how he usually ran his practice.

Howe also raised race in terms of the receivership. Rafferty told the hearing that he's done receiverships for about 20 lawyers, of which three were black. Howe suggested that was a disproportionate number.

Howe completed Rafferty's cross-examination this morning. The hearing, which started last year and resumed last week, is tentatively scheduled into next year.

The CBC's Blair Rhodes live blogged from the hearing.