By David Gambrill
Internet chatter says Jill Nelson is the target of 'Radical Lawyer.' Goodmans LLP in Toronto was the target of a nude photo shocker in January that would fit comfortably within the pages of the satirical gossip publication Frank Magazine.
On Jan. 29, six lawyers at Goodmans LLP received an e-mail of complaint from University of Toronto law school student Selwyn Pieters, one of several law school students who received nude photos of Jill Nelson, an articling student at the firm.
Pieters' e-mail to the firm included several graphic photos, purportedly of Nelson, a 2003 graduate who appears nude in a 2002 "Girls of Canada" issue of Playboy. The photos were circulated to law students at U of T and Osgoode Hall Law School, as well as to former Ontario premier Mike Harris, a senior business advisor to the firm.
The e-mail generated a flurry of activity on legal gossip Web sites - particularly www.lawbuzz.ca, an independent site that is an offshoot of a Web site originally established by legal recruiter ZSA Legal Recruitment.
Goodmans says the photos were "fraudulently presented as being sent from within the firm."
It is clear now the firm had nothing to do with the prank. Nelson told the National Post a hacker had managed to obtain the nude photos of her and circulate them as if they originated from her e-mail, an activity known as "spoofing."
When Law Times contacted Nelson about the story, it was clear she had had enough of talking to the press about it. "Alright, I have nothing to say," she said in an annoyed voice, before quickly hanging up the phone.
The same day, Goodmans issued a press release that said the firm was "investigating the situation to identify the source of this fraudulent activity."
The press release addressed concerns about the implications of the electronic joke on Goodmans' ability to maintain electronic privacy, confidentiality, and solicitor-client privilege.
"On Jan. 29, 2004, many Goodmans employees and certain others received what looked to be an internal e-mail sent from a Goodmans employee," said the firm's statement to the media. "The e-mail was sent from an address outside of Goodmans that was fraudulently presented as being from within the firm, when in fact it was not.
"There was no breach of security to Goodmans e-mail systems or servers."
Nevertheless, the photos triggered moral indignation from people who received them. Goodmans lawyer David Matlow talked to Pieters in order to allay Pieters' concerns about work-place harassment at Goodmans. Pieters later said he was satisfied with his discussion with Matlow.
At first glance, the e-mails Pieters received appeared to emanate from jnelson@goodmans.ca. On Jan. 29, Pieters promptly sent a return e-mail to Dale Lastman, a senior partner at the firm, and several other Goodmans LLP lawyers.
"Good afternoon, I find it is unacceptable to receive the below set out nude pictures of an articling student of your firm, and from an official e-mail from your firm," Pieters wrote in his e-mail to Lastman. "Is this the new marketing strategy of Goodmans? Is this the way Goodman markets its female associates and articling students?"
The subject heading of Pieters' message included a reference to Rule 5.04 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which prohibits discrimination and harassment within law firms.
"Ms. Nelson certainly has the right to pose nude or do whatever she wishes on her own time," Pieters wrote in his e-mail to Goodmans. "But it does seem to be going to the next level when it is infused into the workplace culture, the legal profession, and is circulated throughout the profession by the firm, no less."
Within hours of the prank, it became clear the photos weren't circulated by the firm. This became evident in electronic messages posted on the legal gossip Web site, www.lawbuzz.com.
Law Buzz had an entire discussion group dedicated to the topic, "Bay Street firm gets nude e-mail attack." In that forum, several postings appearing under the user name "Radical Lawyer" suggest the photos had all the makings of a practical joke.
Postings about Radical Lawyer suggested a personal motive for targeting Nelson personally and Goodmans as a firm.
At 5:43 p.m. on Jan. 29, a Web site discussion ignited after the following posting appeared on Law Buzz. "A certain Bay Street firm, with an articling student who posed nude for Playboy, was attacked by a hacker today," the posting read. "E-mails apparently sent by the articling student to a former premier in the office contained numerous attachments of nude photographs.
"Many colleagues and clients were apparently blind cc'd on the message."
Within minutes, another guest replied: "It would be AWESOME if it's true."
The response prompted another to write: "'Awesome?' How so? Are you actually approving of harassment or impersonation of hacking someone's e-mail? Are you hostile towards the unfortunate victim of the attack? What did she do to you? Or are all three posts in here from the same person?"
The subject matter of the Law Buzz site quickly turned to speculation about who was responsible. Several believed the culprit went by the e-mail name, "Radical Lawyer."
Ultra Vires, the University of Toronto law faculty's student-run newspaper, speculated Radical Lawyer is a University of Toronto student, although perhaps not a law student.
Several postings on Law Buzz accused Radical Lawyer of having a near-obsession with Nelson. (The punctuation in these postings has been left as it appears on the site.)
On Jan. 31, for example, two days after the prank, one guest at Law Buzz clearly had no sympathy for the alleged hacker: "i think 'radical' did it," the guest wrote, "and i hope that suspicion is enough for goodmans to make his life a little hellish for awhile."