Law society moves to suspend Hamilton lawyer amid claims she took clients' money then 'abandoned' practice

Samantha Beattie · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 09, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

The Law Society of Ontario is attempting to suspend a Hamilton migration lawyer-turned-tribunal adjudicator aft a twelve radical complained she took their wealth but ne'er completed the enactment to assistance them enactment successful Canada.

"Based connected complaints the instrumentality nine has received against the responsive to date, determination are tenable grounds to judge that determination is simply a important hazard of harm to members of the nationalist and/or to the nationalist involvement successful the medication of justice," it said successful its question filed June 25, 2025 with the Law Society Tribunal. 

It said it's presently investigating claims she misled the national government, misappropriated $10,500 successful lawsuit funds and failed to service 12 clients with progressive exile claims. 

CBC Hamilton previously reported connected 4 families' experiences with Victoria Bruyn since 2023. They each said Bruyn didn't travel done connected promises to assistance them navigate Canada's complicated, high-stakes migration system, leaving them successful limbo or, successful immoderate cases, facing deportation.

For Oksana Hrabova and Oleg Lomanov from Ukraine, they paid Bruyn a retainer of astir $3,000 past summertime to assistance them with their imperishable residency applications. 

But successful the months aft they sent Bruyn each of the indispensable documents, she "simply disappeared," nary longer responding to their emails, calls and texts, said Hrabova.

Bruyn ne'er told them she was nary longer practising instrumentality arsenic of October 2024, arsenic she'd been appointed arsenic an adjudicator astatine the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), said Hrabova. They recovered retired months aboriginal done an online hunt and filed a ailment against Bruyn with the instrumentality society.

Bruyn told CBC Hamilton past that she had "evidence to amusement these allegations are unfounded" but said she thought it was not due to talk astir her clients' cases.

9 instrumentality society investigations ongoing

The instrumentality society, which regulates lawyers and paralegals successful Ontario, brought a question connected June 25 against Bruyn, who is inactive a licensed lawyer, to suspend her quality to signifier instrumentality oregon restrict it portion it continues to analyse her. 

The lawsuit volition beryllium heard adjacent week astatine the Law Society Tribunal. The allegations person not been tested done this quality process.

Bruyn did not respond to CBC Hamilton's petition for comment. She's connected a permission of lack from the LTB, confirmed Tribunals Ontario, which did not remark connected the instrumentality society's motion. 

The instrumentality nine said it's investigating Bruyn for allegations including that she whitethorn have: 

• Abandoned her instrumentality practice.
• Failed to pass and service 12 clients who had progressive exile claims. 
• Misappropriated $10,500 successful lawsuit funds. 
• Misled the national government's Immigration and Refugee Board. 

Bruyn hasn't co-operated with 9 instrumentality nine investigations based connected complaints received betwixt March 2024 and past month, said the motion. 

Along with idiosyncratic clients, the instrumentality nine said it received complaints from the exile committee that Bruyn "may person misled" it by filing mendacious accusation without reviewing it archetypal with her clients. 

'Good quality for us,' says erstwhile client

Until recently, she was connected Legal Aid Ontario's roster, meaning she accepted authorities wealth to correspond low-income clients. The provincial bureau has previously declined to remark connected wherefore oregon erstwhile the alteration happened. 

But that's how Sarah Arvanitis, an American citizen who lives successful Hamilton, was connected with Bruyn. Leading up to a travel to the U.S. successful 2023, she was nether the content Bruyn had filed a Canadian imperishable residency exertion connected her behalf, and she could cross freely betwixt the 2 countries. 

On the mode back, she was stopped by Canadian borderline officials who said nary exertion was ever submitted. 

When she tried to get Bruyn to assistance her instrumentality to Canada, the lawyer couldn't beryllium reached, Arvanitis said. It wasn't until 3 months aboriginal erstwhile Arvanitis was capable to hire another lawyer that she was capable to get backmost home. 

The instrumentality nine investigated Arvanitis's ailment and closed the record aft providing Bruyn with "regulatory guidance," adding a enactment to her file and uncovering "there was insufficient grounds of nonrecreational misconduct to enactment further action." 

Her lawsuit doesn't look to beryllium portion of the instrumentality society's question against Bruyn, but Arvanitis told CBC Hamilton successful an email this week, "it's bully quality for america due to the fact that it means the instrumentality nine is yet attempting to instrumentality enactment against her, which should've happened successful 2023."