An Edmonton lawyer who faced multiple complaints about his professional conduct, including his denials that he had sexual relations with a woman he opposed in a custody battle, has been disbarred.
Navdeep Virk faced 19 complaints during a Law Society of Alberta hearing conducted in June 2019.
He was permanently disbarred after a second hearing, held on Dec. 17, 2019, to determine an appropriate sanction.
Seven of the complaints originated from a 2015 case, when Virk was representing a man in a custody battle.
The man was involved in a legal dispute with a woman who claimed he was the father of her child, according to the law society report.
During the custody hearing, the woman recognized Virk from a 2010 sexual encounter, which happened when she was seven months pregnant with the child at the centre of the case.
She told her lawyer, who asked Virk about the relationship. He denied knowing the woman.
Virk continued to deny the sexual encounters, even when faced with evidence supplied by the woman, the report said.
“She said that she had chatroom communications on the adult dating site where she had met Mr. Virk wherein he identified himself by name,” reads the report.
“There were intimate discussions leading to the first of two meetings, which in turn led to a meeting for a full sexual encounter.”
The woman also identified the hotels where the two met.
The custody case continued for years, and Virk’s sexual encounter with the woman was brought up before a judge.
The judge advised Virk that he should withdraw from the case.
“The court provided advice to Mr. Virk to the effect that whether true or not, the allegations were a sideshow that did not serve the client’s interests,” the report said.
Virk’s client eventually filed a complaint against him with the law society, which prompted an investigation.
Using information provided by the woman, the society linked Virk to the credit card he used to book the hotel rooms.
He continued to deny the meetings took place, first saying that the credit card wasn’t his, then that he couldn’t remember the encounter due to a medical condition.
“Even after being pressed in his questioning by the LSA investigators with information to the contrary, the outright denial was maintained.”
The law society found that the sexual encounter did not constitute a conflict of interest, but that Virk’s denial of it and his refusal to co-operate with the investigation warranted a sanction.
More complaints had been filed against Virk by other clients. They included his failures to finalize a court order in a timely manner, to properly account to his client and to be candid with the court.
He was found guilty of 15 of the 19 complaints. A hearing committee ordered Virk to be disbarred as of Jan. 31, 2020.