“The Father wants Mr. Furlan to be moved as counsel for the Mother. He also wants any member of Mr. Furlan’s firm disqualified from representing the Mother.
The Superior Court of Justice has the inherent jurisdiction to determine, in a judicial manner, to whom it will give audience and may disqualify counsel by reason of conflict of interest or other juristic reason: MacDonald Estate v. Martin, 1990 CanLII 32 (SCC), [1990] 3 S.C.R. 1235 at p. 1245.
In determining whether counsel should be disqualified, the court is concerned with at least three competing values. First, is the desire to maintain the high standards of the legal profession and the integrity of our system of justice. Second, there is the countervailing value that a litigant should not be deprived of his or her choice of counsel without good cause. Finally, there is the desirability of permitting reasonable mobility in the legal profession: MacDonald at p. 1243. The third value addresses the situation when counsel change firms, which is not applicable in the case before me.
One of the most common reasons to seek the disqualification of counsel is if there is a conflict of interest. In those cases, the court will remove that counsel if there is a possibility of real mischief. In these instances, “mischief” refers to the misuse of confidential information by a lawyer against a former client. This is because justice must not only be done, but also must manifestly be seen to be done: MacDonald at p. 1246.”