Guy Quenneville
Northern News Services
Friday, July 27, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - A Toronto lawyer who may be living in Yellowknife admitted last month to acts of professional misconduct, including the misappropriation of a client's money, and is awaiting penalty.

Margaret Cairine Best, a practising attorney in Toronto for approximately 10 years, appeared before the hearing panel of the Law Society of Upper Canada last month after the society investigated complaints about Best's conduct towards a client.

According to information submitted to the panel, Best misappropriated $7,503 of a client's money in 2004 while holding it in a third-party trust. The money was part of a settlement Best's client received from the Canadian Human Rights Commission, against whom the client had pursued a complaint.

The panel also charged Best with failing to maintain her books and records between 2002 and 2005.

Best is currently living in Yellowknife, according to the panel.

The delivery of Best's penalty has been adjourned to Nov. 9 on the condition that she not practise law until the outcome of her case.

"If a lawyer is found guilty of unbecoming or of professional misconduct, possible penalties range from a formal warning, or admonition, to the loss of licence to practice," said Denise McCortie, communications adviser for the law society.

"Every case before the Law Society is judged on its own merits. There are no set penalties," she said.

The panel also found that Best failed to serve her client "in a conscientious, diligent and efficient manner by failing to forward documentation in furtherance of her client's case, despite being instructed and agreeing to do so."

Best's troubles are not limited to her practice of law. In April, Yellowknife rental officer Hal Logsdon instructed Best to pay $6,486.18 in owed rent to a Yellowknife company for an apartment on Otto Drive.