BUSINESS
CAREERS
Political debate Should lawyers and law firms ever make political donations?
PETER BONO FOR THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
donation
MICHAEL BENEDICT
The debate over whether law
firms and lawyers should give political donations — no matter how
small the amount — is heating up
in the wake of two recent cases.
When a prominent Quebec
lawyer angrily resigned from a
provincial inquiry in June, it was
the second time in two months
that a maelstrom over political
donations swept a special prosecutor out of a job. In both instances, the media and opposition political parties strongly suggested
that the counsel’s past political
donations impugned his impartiality. Others argue that such suggestions are utter nonsense.
“How large a hair shirt must we
wear,” says Bob Rae, a lawyer, for-
mer Ontario premier and now Lib-
eral MP. “We’re living in an age of
hypersensitivity — it’s nutsy.”
In May, Vancouver lawyer Terry
Robertson resigned as a special
prosecutor investigating alleged
election improprieties by then
Solicitor General Kash Heed after
it became widely known that Rob-
ertson’s firm had contributed
$1,000 to Heed’s 2009 successful
rookie election campaign. Soon
after B.C. Liberal premier Gordon
Campbell brought the former West
Vancouver police chief into his cab-
inet, Heed became embroiled in
controversy. Earlier this year, the
government asked Robertson to
investigate the alleged election
campaign dirty tricks.
At the time, Robertson, a
Harper Grey LLP partner, knew
this his firm had made the $1,000
donation, but felt that the trans-
action did not impinge on his neu-
trality. Robertson, who does not
belong to a political party, had been
conducting special prosecutions
since 1994, including a 2001 inves-
tigation that led to charges against
a Liberal MLA.
“Campaign contributions
muddy the waters,
and where mud exists,
mud-slinging is sure
to follow.
Harper Grey went one step fur-
ther, halting all political donations
as a result of the imbroglio. It also
returned Robertson’s fees. “Harper
Grey recognizes the public concern
and seriousness of the…matter,” the
firm said in a statement. “We regret
that the action of one of our firm’s
partners has initiated concerns
regarding the special prosecution
process.” It added, “The work
should not have been taken on.”
Such a view is gaining some
traction. In a recent column on
legal weblog Slaw, Doug Jasinski
questions whether law firms
should continue with political
donations. From a marketing per-
spective, the former lawyer, now ad
agency principal, says the answer is
probably no, given the increased
public scrutiny of—and lack of
trust in — the legal profession.
