A Canadian court has just ruled that the lawyers and paralegals accused of cheating on the bar exam last year must have their punishments reduced.

The Ontario Divisional Court’s ruling wiped away most of the sanctions against the accused candidates because they did not receive a fair hearing. “The substantial and wide-ranging consequences suffered by the Applicants weigh in favour of a high level of procedural fairness,” the three-judge panel wrote.

The aspiring Canadian lawyers who brought the judicial review are relieved but are still waiting to hear if the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) will appeal the decision or what other steps it may take, said Marek Tufman, a Toronto litigator who represented a group of applicants.

A spokesperson for the LSO said it is reviewing the decision and had no further comment.

In March 2022, just days before candidates were to write the online bar exam, the Law Society abruptly cancelled the tests, citing a leak of exam questions. It hired external investigators to investigate the breach.

After that investigation and almost a year after the candidates had sat for that exam, the LSO voided the November 2021 test results of 126 candidates connected with the tutoring agency NCA Exam Guru and voided all their previous exam attempts and any experiential training they may have completed. It also prevented them from reapplying to the licensing process for a year.

The sanctions additionally required candidates caught up in the scandal to disclose to any other Canadian law society they applied to that they would have been sanctioned in Ontario. Furthermore, if any of them did reregister with the LSO, they could face a “good character” hearing before being able to practice.

The court said all of that was excessive without giving the accused a hearing. It struck down all the sanctions except the requirement to rewrite the licensing exams.

The LSO is separately suing the exam prep company and its principal, Aamer Chaudry, for allegedly providing both questions and answers to the provincial bar exam to clients.

You can read more about this matter here.

We at Marino are dedicated to helping retaker students pass the bar exam. If you are planning to retake the bar this February, we urge you to contact us right away, as the sooner we speak, the sooner we can help you set up a game plan for success on the upcoming exam. Just submit your score report here or email us at [email protected].