Toronto lawyer Terry Kirichenko — who is being accused by a former client of, among other things, taking money on top of his Legal Aid fees and for rushing her case due to his pending suspension — was suspended by the Law Society of Upper Canada last February for failing to keep updated books and records and for being unable to provide requested documents.
In the decision, Law Society Bencher Janet Minor noted that Kirichenko “has failed to maintain books and records in compliance with relevant Law Society by-laws since 2006 and failed to provide information and documents as requested by both a Law Society auditor and a Law Society investigator.”
Kirichenko primarily represents legal aid clients and told the LSUC hearing panel that he did not keep up his books because he couldn’t afford to. He said that, in some cases, he failed to bill Legal Aid for work he’d done and that he was unable to hire an assistant to help him maintain his records and establish a workable billing system.
The Law Society suspended Kirichenko for “30 days definite and a suspension for an indefinite period until the compliance required is made,” to begin on February 23, 2009. It was noted in the decision that Kirichenko was making an effort to improve his billing, find an assistant and maintain contact with the Law Society.
The final note in the decision reads: “The lawyer has indicated that he will be engaged in a significant trial which is scheduled for a month. It is not, of course, 100 percent clear that the trial will end in one month and as a result the Law Society has agreed that the period for suspension may be altered or extended as the trial unfolds.”
The unnamed woman behind the accusations against Kirichenko was convicted in April 2009 of assault causing bodily harm, aggravated assault, failing to provide the necessities of life and administering a noxious substance. It was revealed that she gave cocaine to her son, who was a toddler at the time, in increasing doses that eventually left him brain damaged. The judge said the woman (who cannot be named to protect the identity of her son) also fractured the boy’s ribs and failed to take him to hospital for a broken forearm.