So what are you allowed to write online when you want to share a critique of a commercial service?
An instructive local verdict has been handed down after immigration lawyer Colin Singer sued Aynur Arife Yorulmaz $125,000 for defamation for a comment the Turkish man posted online.
Singer has been practicing immigration law in Westmount for about 25 years and has a high-profile sideline managing the career of actor-model Rico the Zombie, aka Richard Genest.
Yorulmaz, who is in Egypt, didn't show up to defend himself or his post entitled "been cheated by private immigration service in Qubec" (sic).
Quebec Superior Court Judge Robert Mongeon noted that Yorulmaz, in his note, complains that he was encouraged to pay $3,000 after the site suggested that he would be a good immigration candidate - something that proved untrue after recent updates to Canada's immigration code.
Mongeon noted that "nowhere is it directly or indirectly suggested that Colin R. Singer personally is responsible for the alleged cheating."
The judge noted that claiming to be cheated by a website is not the same as accusing a lawyer of being a cheater.
Judge Mongeon said that the demand for $125,000 is "grossly exaggerated" and "flirts with frivolity and abuse." So the judge awarded Singer nothing.
An instructive local verdict has been handed down after immigration lawyer Colin Singer sued Aynur Arife Yorulmaz $125,000 for defamation for a comment the Turkish man posted online.
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| Lawyer Singer, right, seen with show biz friends |
Yorulmaz, who is in Egypt, didn't show up to defend himself or his post entitled "been cheated by private immigration service in Qubec" (sic).
Quebec Superior Court Judge Robert Mongeon noted that Yorulmaz, in his note, complains that he was encouraged to pay $3,000 after the site suggested that he would be a good immigration candidate - something that proved untrue after recent updates to Canada's immigration code.
Mongeon noted that "nowhere is it directly or indirectly suggested that Colin R. Singer personally is responsible for the alleged cheating."
The judge noted that claiming to be cheated by a website is not the same as accusing a lawyer of being a cheater.
Judge Mongeon said that the demand for $125,000 is "grossly exaggerated" and "flirts with frivolity and abuse." So the judge awarded Singer nothing.
Colin Singer's lawyer was Mathieu Di Lullo who has called Quebec a "Rotting Carcass" and "A Province To Run From".
ReplyDeletehttps://web.archive.org/web/20141205161423/http://mdilullo.blogspot.ca/2012_06_01_archive.html
The Judge notes Singer's concerns in paragraph 42:
ReplyDelete[42] At trial, the Plaintiff’s evidence on the extent of the damages suffered and the effect of Defendant’s fault upon him was quasi non-existent. He claims that he was “very upset and very disturbed”, alleging that his “credibility was on the line”. His evidence on the extent of the damages allegedly suffered lasted but a few minutes, if that. The evidence was purely and exclusively self-serving. No evidence of monetary loss was submitted and the “moral prejudice” alleged by the Plaintiff was certainly not demonstrated with any sufficient degree of probability to constitute conclusive proof.
Interesting to note that according to Quebec laws regarding defamation, someone with already tarnished reputation has a an existing disadvantage in court when it comes to such lawsuits. Singer has a list of old complaints, for example:
http://sajha.com/sajha/html/index.cfm?threadid=40742
and
http://web.archive.org/web/20100830103054/http://complaintsbbb.com/2009/08/20/colin-r-singer/
http://web.archive.org/web/20130205141924/http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/this-consultant-not-good-t34979.30.html
His alleged credibility was already damaged years ago (2007/2009) through his business practices. The Judge hints at this in paragraphs 23 and 24:
[23] The Plaintiff may very well be the person behind the Corporation and its website. But the Plaintiff has sought the protection of having a separate legal person between him and the services offered by CCIRC or perhaps also by his placement agency, Global Recruiters Network, operating under another website identified as www.grnmontreal.com.
[24] The legal barriers between the operation of his businesses, on the one part, and his role as attorney or legal counsel of his client, on the other part, creates an advantage but this advantage comes with certain drawbacks. If the Plaintiff wishes to benefit from such corporate protection, he must also live with the fact that the Corporation and himself are not the same “person”.
The "lawyer" is walking a thin line here in regards to conflict of interest. It is also apparent he is not in touch with the reality of how the world works.
People complain for two major reasons, to "express dissatisfaction" as the court observed, and to warn others. The side effect of aggressively suing known victims is that more and more victims will begin to post complaints anonymously about Singer. It gets worse when the court begins to notice a waste of their time through frivolous lawsuits.
[39] This demand is grossly exagerated. It flirts with frivolity and abuse within the meaning given to these words in Article 54.1 C.C.P.
Anyway, this should be a lesson for other companies to clean up their act.