Judge finds former York Region lawyer faked court orders and kept clients paying for years
Ontario judge says Adam White maintained an elaborate web of lies, providing forged judicial endorsements and settlement letters while continuing to bill clients for inactive matters.
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By Torontoer Staff
An Ontario judge has convicted former York Region lawyer Adam White of fraud and uttering forged documents, finding he maintained an elaborate web of lies for years while giving clients fake judicial orders and continuing to take their money. Justice Sandra Bacchus handed down the findings in December at Newmarket, and released written reasons earlier this month.
White, a past president of the York Region Law Association, had his licence suspended by the Law Society Tribunal in 2023 and revoked in 2024 for the same conduct. Bacchus rejected White’s defence that mental health problems meant he lacked the intent to defraud, and she found his testimony unreliable in key respects.
How the forgeries were used
Bacchus outlined multiple instances in which White provided clients with fabricated emails and court endorsements that appeared to come from Superior Court justices and opposing counsel. In one wrongful dismissal matter, a client received a fake letter, on opposing counsel’s letterhead, dated Dec. 16, 2019, offering to settle for $85,000. The letter included the line, "this is in excess of our client’s last offer, not as an admission of liability but as an offer to see this matter resolved," language later shown to be false because the case had already been dismissed months earlier.
The same client was given endorsements purporting to be signed by Superior Court Justice Andrea Himel, complete with a court logo, that scheduled trial sittings in November 2021 and then in May 2022. In November 2022 he received a further fake endorsement pushing the trial to spring 2023. He only discovered the case had been dismissed in June 2019 when he visited the courthouse in March 2023, and learned there was an outstanding costs award against him for $8,000.
Effects on clients and payments
Clients testified they were repeatedly told their matters were active, and they acted on those representations. One wrongful dismissal client said he paid White between $15,000 to $20,000, including about $7,000 after the matter had been dismissed without his knowledge. In a separate child custody case, a client and his mother paid sizeable sums after receiving fake judicial endorsements that suggested favourable rulings.
The mother testified she paid an initial $5,000 retainer followed by more than $11,000 in subsequent payments. Bacchus specifically found a $2,825 payment made in June 2022 was for "court proceedings that had not occurred and were not scheduled." The professional relationship in that custody matter ended in October 2022 when the client was served with a contempt motion for missing a court date he was not aware of.
Court findings on White’s testimony
White represented himself at trial and said mental health struggles meant he lacked the required intent to defraud. Bacchus accepted that he had mental health issues, but found his version of events unreliable. She described his testimony as "incredible and unreliable," noting evasive answers such as saying he "could not confirm, but he also could not lawfully or legally deny" sending particular emails.
Bacchus rejected White’s suggestion that a law clerk was primarily responsible for circulating the false documents without his knowledge. "It defies credulity that Mr. White did not provide the emails and endorsements identified in these proceedings to his respective clients or does not recall doing so," she wrote. She also concluded White did more than hand over forged documents, he represented to clients that he was actively engaged in their cases and accepted money for those services.
They created the appearance that the matters were moving ahead while also setting up what appeared to be barriers imposed by the court.
Justice Sandra Bacchus
Bacchus convicted White of one count of fraud over $5,000, one count of fraud under $5,000, and two counts of uttering forged documents. She acquitted him on two counts of attempting to obstruct justice. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for next month.
Allegations in the court record
- Fake settlement letter dated Dec. 16, 2019, purportedly from opposing counsel, offering $85,000.
- Endorsements purporting to be signed by Superior Court Justices Andrea Himel and Phillip Sutherland, including court logos.
- Client payments of roughly $15,000 to $20,000 in a wrongful dismissal matter, with $7,000 paid after the file had been dismissed.
- Payments by a mother covering her son’s custody matter: $5,000 initial retainer plus over $11,000 in further payments.
- An outstanding costs award of $8,000 the client only learned about at the courthouse.
Bacchus addressed White’s account of his mental health, writing that the portrait he painted of being unable to function, not remembering actions or how documents were produced, and acting only to survive, "is not credible." She emphasised that he both provided false documents and reassured clients their matters were progressing, while accepting payment.
The picture Mr. White paints of not being able to function at all, not knowing or remembering what he was doing, or how documents came about because of his deteriorated mental state, and acting with only a singular motivation and intention to survive, is not credible.
Justice Sandra Bacchus
Next steps
White faces sentencing next month. The Law Society has already suspended and later revoked his licence, and the judgment forms part of the disciplinary and criminal record that will be considered in sentencing and any further regulatory proceedings.
Clients left out of court and continuing to pay for inactive matters illustrates the financial and personal toll of professional misconduct. The judgment documents the ways in which forged endorsements and fake correspondence were used to sustain client confidence while legal files, in some cases, were no longer active.
Justice Bacchus’s written reasons conclude with a clear finding: White engaged in deliberate misconduct, created an appearance of progress on legal matters, and accepted funds while those matters were not proceeding in court.
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