Judge seeking to dismiss suit against her

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This article was published 21/09/2010 (5567 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba judge at the centre of a sex scandal says the lawsuit against her should be dismissed.

Justice Lori Douglas has filed a statement of defence in which she disputes allegations that one of her husband’s former clients was pressured to have sex with her.

Douglas, her husband Jack King and the Winnipeg law firm where they used to work as lawyers are being sued for $67 million by Alexander Chapman, a man who had previously hired King as his divorce lawyer.

Chapman alleges King approached him in 2003 and asked him to have sex with Douglas. Chapman claims King showed him explicit photos of his wife and pointed him to a website that contained graphic images of Douglas.

King’s lawyer says King was suffering from depression at the time and was acting without Douglas’s knowledge. King has already filed a counter-suit, alleging Chapman is violating a 2003 confidentiality settlement in which King paid him $25,000 to return the photos and not talk about the matter.

Chapman, who didn’t return the photos, has admitted signing the agreement, but says he came forward because he continues to feel victimized.

In her statement of defence, Douglas lays out three arguments for dismissing the lawsuit, including lack of a legal basis. Her lawyer also argues the statute of limitations has been exceeded because the case dates back seven years. He also points to the 2003 confidentiality settlement.

Lawyers for Douglas and King were to be in court Wednesday for a date for a hearing to have the lawsuit quashed.

 

— The Canadian Press