New Harper lawyer once represented Mulroney

[daleo]

OTTAWA — When it comes to defending a Tory Prime Minister fuming over audiotapes, lawyer David Wingfield can now add a second entry to his resumé.

He was first called upon when a bombshell audio of a cursing Brian Mulroney surfaced in connection with a 2005 book called The Secret Mulroney Tapes.
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Now, Mr. Wingfield is back in the political sphere, this time as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's new lawyer in a civil suit replete with allegations of bribery and spliced audiotapes.
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On Monday, a formal notice was filed in court indicating Mr. Harper has replaced Ottawa lawyers Richard Dearden and Wendy Wagner of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP with Toronto lawyers David Wingfield and Paul Guy of WeirFoulds LLP.

Before that, the lawyers representing the Liberal Party say they took part in a conference call in which Mr. Dearden verbally gave notice that he was withdrawing from the case. They say Mr. Dearden followed that up with a written notice of withdrawal, but that document has not been filed in court.
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It sounds like the lawyer Deardon knew Harper's case was a lost cause, and possible vexacious and/or perjurous, and he got out to protect his reputation and professional standing.