James Cooper Morton

Last updated

James cooper Morton, C.S., LL.M. (born 1969) was once a sigma

Contents

Canadian lawyer with political aspirations, teaching law part-time, blogging and writing in the legal and popular press.  In June 2018, he was charged with two counts of forgery of court documents, uttering forged documents, attempting to obstruct justice, signing what purported to be an affidavit without authority, bigamy, and procuring a feigned marriage.  The Law Society of Ontario suspended Mr. Morton from practicing law in August 2018  [1]  and he pled guilty to criminal charges in April 2019. [2] 

Biography

Early life

Morton was born in Painesville, Ohio, and raised near Hamilton, Ontario. He received a B.Sc. from the University of Western Ontario, an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School and an LL.M. from University of Leicester. Morton graduated from Osgoode as Silver Medallist, clerked with the Chief Justice of Ontario, stood first in the Bar Admission Course, and practiced with the law firm with Tory Tory DesLauriers & Binnington.

Career

Mr. Morton was the principal at Morton Barristers when his legal career ended because of his criminal conduct. Prior to that he was a founding partner at Morton Karrass LLP, and a founding partner and head of the litigation group at Steinberg, Morton, Hope and Israel LLP. His practice focused on commercial, criminal and constitutional litigation. He took an active role in the field of legal education, lecturing in the area of evidence and advanced evidence at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University and Thomas M. Cooley Law School at Lansing, Michigan. Mr. Morton also taught Administration at the Law Clerks Institute, and has taught in the areas of Civil Litigation, Professional Responsibility, Bankruptcy and Business Law of the Bar Admission Course. Mr. Morton published 18 legal textbooks, was past President of the Ontario Bar Association and a regular media commentator. He was a certified specialist of the Law Society of Upper Canada in the area of Civil Litigation. In 2013, he received the Ontario Bar Association's Distinguished Service Award. [3]

Politics

Morton was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada and has served in positions at the riding and party levels. In 2011, he ran for office as the Federal Liberal candidate in 2011 in the Ontario riding of Oshawa. He is the former President of the Thornhill Federal Liberal Riding Association (TFLRA) and resigned the position of executive vice president of the riding on November 26, 2013, in order to contest the federal Liberal Party nomination. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osgoode Hall Law School</span> Law school in Toronto, Ontario

Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the Osgoode Hall Law Journal. A variety of LL.M. and Ph.D. degrees in law are available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy McMurtry</span> Canadian politician (1932–2024)

Roland Roy McMurtry was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician in Ontario. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1985, serving in the cabinet of Bill Davis as Attorney General and as Solicitor General. After leaving politics, McMurtry was High Commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom between 1985 and 1988. He became a judge in 1991 and was appointed Chief Justice of Ontario in 1996. McMurtry retired from the bench in 2007 and returned to the private practice of law.

Frank Iacobucci is a former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1991 until his retirement from the bench in 2004. He was the first Italian-Canadian, allophone judge on the court. Iacobucci was also the first judge on the Supreme Court to have been born, raised and educated in British Columbia. Iacobucci has had a distinguished career in private practice, academia, the civil service and the judiciary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Greenspan</span>

Edward Leonard Greenspan, was one of Canada's most famous defence lawyers, and a prolific author of legal volumes. His fame was owed to numerous high-profile clients and to his national exposure on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio series Scales of Justice (1982–94).

David S. Young is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2003. He represented the riding of Willowdale and served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves.

Michael Arthur Meighen, is a Canadian lawyer, cultural patron, and former senator. He practised as a litigation and commercial lawyer in Montreal and Toronto. He is a grandson of Arthur Meighen, the ninth Prime Minister of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon F. Henderson</span> Canadian lawyer (1912–1993)

Gordon Fripp Henderson, was a Canadian intellectual property lawyer who joined the law firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in 1937, and later became its chairman. He was known for his advocacy on intellectual property matters as well as his involvement in intellectual property organizations throughout his career. Henderson's contribution to the development of Canadian and international jurisprudence is described as one of the most significant in Canadian legal history.

Julian Harris Porter,, is a Canadian lawyer and was Chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission from 1979 to 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Ottawa Faculty of Law</span>

The University of Ottawa Faculty of Law is the law school at the University of Ottawa, located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1953, the faculty is today divided into Civil Law and Common Law sections, the two formally recognized legal traditions in Canada.

David G. Coles, is a Canadian lawyer. He received his B.A. from Dalhousie University in 1981. He then received his LL.B. in 1984, also from Dalhousie. He was admitted to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1985.

The Arbitration Roundtable of Toronto is made up of several litigators, academics, arbitrators, and mediators from the Greater Toronto Area. The group promotes arbitration as an alternative method of conflict resolution over litigation, especially in commercial suits. Members include commercial litigators from Toronto law firms including some of the Seven Sisters of Bay Street. Each member has experience and interest in promoting commercial Arbitration. The group dedicates its time to encouraging this form of Dispute resolution through seminars, papers, and talks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Morton</span> Canadian politician

Murray Douglas Morton (1916–2001) was a Canadian soldier, lawyer, politician, and judge. He was best known as an elected trustee of the Toronto Board of Education, as federal Member of Parliament for Toronto's Davenport riding, and as a judge in Ontario's Provincial Court.

Isaac Campbell, was a lawyer and political figure in Manitoba. He represented Winnipeg South from 1888 to 1891 in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a Liberal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Thomas Strosberg</span> Canadian lawyer

Harvey Thomas Strosberg, is a Canadian lawyer. He is a senior partner at the law firm of Strosberg, Sasso, Sutts LLP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in law in Canada</span>

Women work in the legal profession and related occupations throughout Canada, as lawyers, prosecutors, judges, legal scholars, law professors and law school deans. In Canada, while 37.1% of lawyers are women, "50% ...said they felt their [law] firms were doing "poorly" or "very poorly" in their provision of flexible work arrangements". It was also reported that, in 2006 in Ontario, "racialized women accounted for 16% of all lawyers under 30" and that only 1% of lawyers were Aboriginal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Persaud</span> Canadian lawyer, entrepreneur, civic leader, & public figure

Mark M. Persaud, LL.B., LL.M., LL.D. is a Canadian lawyer, entrepreneur, civic leader, and public figure. He is a former federal prosecutor.

Paul B. Schabas is a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

M. David Lepofsky is a Canadian academic, retired lawyer, disability advocate. Blind for much of his life, Lepofsky was named one of Canada's most influential lawyers in 2010.

Malliha Wilson is a Tamil Canadian lawyer who served as an Assistant Deputy Attorney General of the Government of Ontario from April 2008 to November 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd McCarthy (politician)</span> Canadian politician

Todd J. McCarthy is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has been the Ontario Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery since September 22, 2023. A member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, McCarthy was elected in the 2022 provincial election to represent Durham in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

References

  1. http://canlii.ca/t/hvm3k
  2. "Prominent Ontario lawyer pleads guilty to bigamy, forging divorce documents | Globalnews.ca".
  3. "OBA Distinguished Service Award".
  4. Thornhill Federal Liberal Riding Association (TFLRA) [ permanent dead link ]