Nunavut lawyer’s licence suspended following bigamy, forgery allegations

James Morton is no longer able to practise law in Nunavut, following a decision by the territory’s law society to suspend his membership. His Ontario licence is also suspended (FILE PHOTO)

A Nunavut lawyer charged with bigamy and forging documents can no longer practise law in the territory, after the Law Society of Nunavut suspended his licence.

“Effective August 21, 2018, the membership of James Morton, a member of the Law Society of Nunavut, is suspended for a period of 90 days pursuant to Section 27 (b) of the Legal Profession Act,” reads a suspension notice given to Nunatsiaq News on Aug. 22.

Allegations against Morton, 58, became public early in August.

He is accused of faking the signatures of two judges on a divorce order in April. As a result, he also faces charges for obstructing justice.

Morton then married his law clerk on May 12.

Bigamy—the act of marrying someone when you are already married—carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Morton was practising law in both Nunavut and Ontario, where he now lives.

Morton’s licence to practise law in Ontario was also recently suspended during a tribunal hearing on Aug. 17.

The Ontario Law Society says this is a temporary measure, made when there are grounds to believe that a lawyer’s practice could cause “significant risk of harm to members of the public, or to the public interest in the administration of justice.”

Morton had about 50 active cases, around 20 of which were in Nunavut.

Last week, during administrative court at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit, one client of Morton’s had his file delayed while a new lawyer was brought up to speed on his case. The court apologized to the man, who was phoning in for his court date from an Ontario detention centre.

Before the news broke about Morton’s charges, the well-known defence lawyer contacted the Law Society of Nunavut on Aug. 2 to say he would be resigning from the society, citing “serious difficulties in Ontario that he expected to resolve,” society president Alison Crowe told Nunatsiaq News in an email.

But then no formal application for resignation was sent in, she said. Morton’s legal membership in Nunavut was later referred to a disciplinary committee.

“Our primary obligation is to manage the affairs of the law society in the public interest and specifically, to safeguard the rights of legal clients in Nunavut,” Crowe said, adding that any concerned clients of Morton could contact the law society.

“In the case of legal aid files, they should first contact the local legal aid office in their region,” she said.

Morton previously wrote a legal column for Nunatsiaq News.