A. Lori Douglas was the Associate Chief Justice of the

Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba The Court of King's Bench of Manitoba (french: Cour du Banc du Roi du Manitoba)—or the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba, depending on the monarch—is the superior court of the Canadian province of Manitoba. The court is divided into tw ...

(Family Division). She currently lectures and practices family law part-time.

Education

Douglas received a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gr ...

in 1978 and a Bachelor of Laws from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Law Society of Manitoba The Law Society of Manitoba (LSM) is the self-governing regulatory body of the legal profession in Manitoba, Canada. Membership in the LSM is required in order to practice law in the province. , the LSM had 2072 members with active practising s ...

in 1982.

Legal career

Douglas was a partner with the firm of

Thompson Dorfman Sweatman Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP (TDS) is a Canadian, Manitoba-based law firm with its head office in Winnipeg. The firm has two full-time regional office in Brandon and Portage la Prairie and eight part-time satellite offices in Boissevain, Gla ...

, where she practised primarily

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage, ...

. She was a professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba and at the Bar Admission Course.

Judicial career

On May 19, 2005, Douglas was appointed a Judge of the Court of Queen's Bench (Family Division). On May 14, 2009, she was appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench (Family Division), replacing Justice

Gerry Mercier Gerald Wayne Joseph "Gerry" Mercier (born November 7, 1942 in Claresholm, Alberta) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1977 to 1988, and was a cabinet minister in the Progressive ...

Complaint and resignation

In July 2010, Winnipeg resident Alexander Chapman filed a formal complaint with the

Canadian Judicial Council The Canadian Judicial Council (CJC; french: Conseil canadien de la magistrature) is the national council of the judiciary of Canada, overseeing the country's federal judges. The Council has 41 members, composed of chief justices and associate chi ...

against Lori Douglas and her husband, Jack King. The complaint alleged that King, a lawyer for the

firm, uploaded nude photographs of his wife to a pornography site in 2003 in order to tease clients such as Chapman. In doing so Chapman broke a confidentiality agreement made with King in 2003. A 2016 interview, which described the photographs as revenge porn, alleged that his motive was to humiliate a judge in another case who was a colleague of Douglas. Douglas, who learned about the photos and forgave King in 2003, was unaware that there were surviving copies. In 2016, Douglas said "I’ve actually never seen the images and I don’t ever want to see them." The subsequent investigation drew support from the civil law dean at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

who said "If pictures of you naked end up on an Internet site, it's quite difficult to say you have the credibility to be a judge." However, an article in Canadian Lawyer Magazine was critical of the move, calling it "

victim blaming Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as ...

couched as legitimate judicial inquiry". In September 2010, Douglas asked to be "temporarily relieved of her duties as a sitting justice" while "remain ngin her position in an administrative capacity". On January 5, 2011 the Canadian Judicial Council determined that the matter of the complaints against Douglas merited further investigation and referred to a review panel. The Canadian Judicial Council inquiry suffered from a series of delays and legal challenges before finally concluding on 24 November 2014, when Douglas agreed to early retirement in return for the case being officially stayed. Douglas officially retired on 21 March 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Lori Canadian women judges Judges in Manitoba Living people University of Manitoba alumni University of Winnipeg alumni Victims of cyberbullying Robson Hall alumni Year of birth missing (living people)