The class action covers about 900 eligible members. 31, 2013, and had their claims refused or abandoned while under their legal representation. The lawsuit covers all refugee claimants from Hungary who retained Hohots, Farkas and Jaszi (now deceased) between Jan.
The claimants alleged the lawyers abdicated their responsibilities and inappropriately passed their professional tasks to others failed to complete and file the narrative of the clients’ claim with supporting evidence filed “manifestly inadequate and incorrect” information in the clients’ claim and failed to appear at asylum hearings. The seeds of the legal action were sown back in 2011 when community groups and refugees’ advocates began investigating after hearing stories from Hungarian refugee claimants about inadequate legal representation they said they were receiving. It was alleged that the lawyers exhibited “a systemic pattern of conduct, which resulted in many of the defendant’s clients receiving inadequate and negligent service, such that they lost the opportunity to have their claims decided on their merits.”Īll three lawyers had previously been found guilty by the Ontario Law Society Tribunal of failing to properly serve their clients. The litigation began in 2017 as three individual lawsuits by five Hungarian Roma refugees, which were merged into one due to the similar nature of the accusations. In return, the failed Hungarian Roma refugees agreed the resolution was “fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the class.” The settlement of this matter will give our clients much-needed closure.”Īs part of the settlement, the lawyers denied all the claims, as well as any wrongdoing and liability of any kind, made by the litigants in the lawsuit. “It is unfortunate these vulnerable people were let down by the very lawyers they relied upon for advice and skilled representation.
“We are pleased that our clients will get some compensation after all this time,” the Roma’s lawyer, Sean Brown, said in a statement.
11, will conclude another chapter of a decade-old campaign by advocates and Roma refugees, who have complained about being shortchanged by Canada’s asylum system due to poor legal representation and discriminatory government policies. The settlement, if approved by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice at a scheduled hearing on Sept. Three Toronto lawyers who were found guilty of professional misconduct in handling Roma refugees’ asylum claims have settled a class-action lawsuit by their former clients.Īccording to a recently released settlement agreement, the insurers representing the lawyers - Viktor Hohots, Joseph Farkas and Erzsebet Jaszi - will pay approximately $500,000 in total damages to the eligible class members.