The Law Society of Saskatchewan has disbarred a lawyer for fabricating court documents and misleading clients for nearly two years in foreclosure proceedings.
A notice posted on the law society website last week says Saskatoon lawyer Glenn Headley was disbarred Dec. 31.
A written decision says Headley pleaded guilty to conduct unbecoming of a lawyer for failing to provide quality service, failing to act with honesty by intentionally misleading his clients, fabricating court documents and failing to comply with client identification requirements from the law society.
An agreed statement of facts appended to the decision says Headley had come to work on foreclosures due to a pre-existing relationship he had with an “Ontario entity” who acted as a middleman for mortgages between private lenders and borrowers.
In September 2021, Headley began foreclosure proceedings for two clients who were private lenders. Headley had previously drafted mortgages for them with the Ontario entity acting as the middleman.
The borrowers were served with initial court documents, but Headley “took no further action in regard to these foreclosure actions,” the agreed statement of facts says.
“The commencement applications were never filed with the court and the deadlines to file them passed without further action on his part.”
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For nearly two years, information he provided his clients about the status of the foreclosures was fabricated. When Headley was pressed about the delays, he changed draft court documents to add false filing dates and file numbers, the agreed statement of facts says.
He also told the clients he had done everything he could to advance the file, blaming delays on the court.
“All I can do and have done is express to the court clerk the need for the matters to proceed,” says an email from Headley to his clients dated August 2023.
“If I do more, I fear I will be ‘blacklisted’ by the judges.”
About six months later, when confronted by a representative of the clients about the validity of his claims, Headley then admitted to the deception.
“My only hope was that the properties in question would be sold or that the borrowers would pass away so that the mortgages in question would get paid out,” says Headley’s email dated February 2024.
“Obviously such hope was futile.”
The law society investigation also found that Headley did not obtain client identification or verification for private lending transactions and mortgages facilitated through the Ontario entity. He also did not inquire about the source of funds received.
“He relied on (the Ontario entity) to identify and verify the private lenders,” the law society document says.
“This is a breach of the client identification rules.”
In the February 2024 email to his clients, Headley apologized for misleading them, calling it “by far, the greatest error I have ever made.”
“I realize I have had countless opportunities to be truthful to you,” the email reads. “I have no acceptable excuse for not doing so.”
The law society decision cited a few factors that contributed to Headley’s misconduct, including that he saw a decrease in business during the COVID-19 pandemic that was exacerbated by the departure of a longtime legal assistant. He said the Ontario entity was planning to take their business to the other firm where the legal assistant was working.
Headley also said he agreed to take on foreclosure files to maintain his business relationship with the Ontario entity, even though it was an area of law he did not have a lot of experience practising.
“The member turned a mistake, into a prolonged deception and then into manufacturing false documents to cover this deception,” the hearing committee wrote as an important factor in their decision to disbar Headley.
“The breach of trust to the public confidence is multi-layered in this case. Protection of the public is paramount.”
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