JFK Law LLP is pleased to share our Managing Partner Sara Mainville’s contributions to the recent Globe and Mail article entitled “As more money flows from historic treaty settlements, Indigenous communities focus on financial literacy education.”
Written by journalist Willow Fiddler, the article addresses the influx of settlement payouts First Nations are receiving for various Crown breaches of historical treaty agreements, including the Robinson Huron Treaty settlement agreement and the Agricultural Benefits (or “Cows and Plows”) specific claims settlements. While these settlement agreements are intended to right past wrongs, they also provide opportunities for others (including legal professionals) to take advantage of vulnerable populations.
In the article, Mainville highlights the importance of creating and maintaining clearer ethical guidelines for lawyers, judges, and others involved in monetary court judgments and settlement agreements with First Nations.[1] Ethical guidelines and practices should also be required for those providing services to First Nations communities and citizens, such as contractors, banks, and car dealerships to ensure that settlement recipients are not being defrauded or otherwise taken advantage of.
To read the full article and Mainville’s comments, please visit: As more money flows from historic treaty settlements, Indigenous communities focus on financial literacy education.
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[1] This relates to a recent Ontario Superior Court decision urging First Nations to get independent legal advice for contingency fee arrangements. Find JFK Law’s blog on the decision here: Should Contingency Fee Agreements be contingent on independent legal advice? The Ontario Superior Court in Nootchtai v Nahwegahbow Corbiere Genoodmagejig weighs in – JFK Law – Canada.