Lawyers can still show a li'l love
By CP
Mon, August 16, 2004
LOVE IS still allowed to bloom in the law offices of the nation. Lawyers attending the Canadian Bar Association's annual meeting in Winnipeg yesterday were passionate in their rejection of proposed new rules and guidelines governing sexual relationships with clients.
An overwhelming majority of delegates dismissed two resolutions on the delicate issue as paternalistic, stereotypical and vague.
"Who are we to impose a prohibition on falling in love?" Montreal lawyer Chantale Masse asked during the hour-long debate.
WARNING
Most of the discussion centred on a resolution to completely ban sexual relationships between lawyers and clients.
Another motion, which was also soundly defeated, intended to serve more as a warning to lawyers to steer clear of romances that could be influenced by an imbalance of power or exploitation.
Masse said a ban wouldn't take into account circumstances in which a corporate lawyer working for a large firm might fall in love with a client who is a chief executive officer of a large company.