Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society Seeks Judicial Review After Human Rights Report Finds 'Racial Double Standard'
A Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission investigator concluded that the provincial law society applied a racial double standard in disciplining lawyers, specifically citing the disbarment of Black lawyer Lyle Howe. The Society has filed for a judicial review to challenge the order for a board of inquiry.
An investigator’s report from the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, released in August 2025, concluded that the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society (NSBS) applied a "racial double standard" when disciplining lawyers. The findings centered on the 2017 disbarment of Lyle Howe, a Black former Halifax defence lawyer found guilty of professional misconduct and incompetence.
The report stated that white lawyers often received more lenient consequences for serious misconduct, while Black and racialized lawyers faced harsher penalties for comparable or lesser infractions. To support this conclusion, the investigator canvassed more than 60 disciplinary cases from 2000 to 2023. The analysis found that sanctions against Howe were among the harshest in the dataset.
The investigation compared Howe's treatment to that of Nash Brogan, a prominent Cape Breton defence lawyer who received only a six-month suspension for similar issues of misconduct and incompetence. Howe argues that his prior conviction for sexual assault in 2014—which was later overturned on appeal—tainted the disciplinary panel's view of him.
Following the report's release, Perry Borden, chief judge of the Nova Scotia Provincial Court, named a three-member panel in February to conduct hearings for a board of inquiry regarding the discrimination allegations. However, the NSBS has contested this decision. On March 4, 2026, the Society filed a Notice for Judicial Review with the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, arguing that the decision to order a hearing was unreasonable.
Jennifer Pink, interim executive director of the barristers’ society, stated that Nova Scotia’s highest court previously found no evidence to support Howe’s allegations of racial bias. Despite these legal challenges, Howe remains disbarred and unable to practise law. He has been out of practice for 10 years and states he will never be compensated for his lost career trajectory, regardless of potential future changes in how Black lawyers are treated within the profession.