Potential huge payday coming for lawyer Merchant

Saskatchewan's best-known lawyer, Tony Merchant, is a wealthy man and he's about to become even wealthier.

He's in line for a massive payday as part of the federal government's settlement of residential school lawsuits.

Merchant's firm, Merchant Law Group, which claims to represent about 10,000 former students, could receive $40 million as its share of Ottawa's $2-billion proposed deal.

That has unsettled some people. Others say hewas a big part of the deal.

The law firm's amount was being discussed in a Regina courtroomThursday as part of a judicial review of the historic deal.

The firm could getmanymillionsmore because there will be further settlements for people who have experienced physical, sexual and psychological abuse.

Claims under scrutiny

It's fair compensation, Merchant said, for the work of 50 lawyers over more than a decade.

However, a retired Supreme Court judge hired by Ottawa wants to make sure the money paid to Merchant is reasonable and equitable. He's checking whether thework was actually done and clients actually exist.

Merchant is balking, claiming the verification process violates client-solicitor privilege.

That Merchant again finds himself at the centre of a courtroom controversy is no surprise to legal observers in Saskatchewan.

The former Liberal MLA, who once represented convicted murderer Colin Thatcher, has made headlines for years, and some of them have not been very flattering.

The Law Society of Saskatchewan has found Merchant guilty of conduct unbecoming a lawyer three times during the last two decades, once for providing misleading information to former residential school students.

Letters sent to former students said they had "nothing to lose" and that if students were victims of sexual assault, they could receive up to $150,000 in compensation.

Merchant is currently appealing two other law society convictions on matters unrelated to residential schools. He insists he's not a rogue lawyer.

"I follow a lot of rules," he said. "I'm very respectful to the judicial system and treated wonderfully, quite frankly, by judges, not just here but elsewhere."

One meal a day

Merchant, a Jaguar-driving, 61-year-old former politician, has built up an impressive law business, with offices across Western Canada, and is keenly aware of his high profile.

"There have been days when I have wished that a movie star would move to Saskatchewan so someone else can get some attention," he said in a recent interview.

It's pretty hard to find anyone in the city who hasn't heard a Tony Merchant story.

They've heard about his habit of eating only one meal a day. They recall published stories about him flying from town to town with his faithful husky. They've read about his titanic battle with Ralph Goodale for a Liberal riding nomination.

If there's an upside to all the attention paid to Merchant, it's that it keeps his name in the public eye. But even his own lawyer, Gord Kuski, says Merchant doesn't need a boost in profile.

"I can tell you this. There's no doubt Tony Merchant is the most well-known lawyer in the province," Kuski said.

And, with little doubt, one of the more wealthy.

"Money has always motivated me," Merchant said. "But it's not really that it motivates me to spend it, in particular. But I guess it motivates me to have it. And I'm sure my children will spend it well."

Merchant unabashedly uses the media to promote his firm, a habit other lawyers mutter about.

He's almost always available to reporters. One recent Saturday morning, a CBC journalist talked to him at his stately home in one of Regina's old money neighbourhoods. Nearby there was a stack of files and six dictaphones on a table a reminder of a daily routine that typically starts between 2 a.m.and 7 a.m.and goes until almost midnight.

Even his detractors in the legal profession admit that he's hard working, although none of them want to talk about him on the record.

More openly, some people have accused Merchant of capitalizing on one of the most tragic chapters in Canadian history.

In Saskatchewan, the residential schools operated for about a century. Some of them were notorious for the physical and sexual abuse of aboriginal students.

Supporters and detractors

Ted Quewezance, head of the Residential School Survivors Society, says lawyers like Merchant deserve some credit for getting compensation for those victims.

"They've done a great contribution to the process," he said.

"Tony Merchant is one of the contributions to the agreement. And many other firms across the country. Tony stands out for the simple reason that [he] has a lot of clientele."

But others, like Ruth Iron of Canoe Lake in northwest Saskatchewan, are troubled by the vast sums lawyers like Merchant stand to receive.

"He's just getting rich off the blood, sweat and tears of the people who actually suffered and were tortured at the residential schools," said Iron, whose mother and brother retained Merchant Law Group to settle their claims.

Merchant has heard the criticisms before. He replies that his firm and other firms have provided valuable service to First Nations peoples and his conscience is clear.

And with the money about to roll in, he's moving on to the next stage of what he calls a crusade. There are no thoughts of retirement.

"I don't [know] what I'd do. Write. But I don't [know] why anyone would be interested in what I write," he said.