TORONTO -- A complaint against a Bermuda lawyer's conduct in an Ontario custody case could lead to a public hearing before a discipline panel of senior lawyers.

Steven Heipel, a spokesman for the Law Society of Upper Canada, said if a complaint against a lawyer is upheld, penalties can range from a reprimand to disbarment.

Madam Justice Janet Wilson of the general division of Ontario Court recently questioned the conduct of Bermuda lawyer Jackie Stubbs and said she understood another lawyer had made a complaint about Ms Stubbs to the Law Society.

"From a review of the material filed before me, an investigation is warranted,'' Madam Justice Wilson said in a written judgment.

Court was told Ms Stubbs was representing a Toronto-area father in a fight for custody over a child who recently turned seven years old. Ms Stubbs and the father began to have an affair. When the father was awarded custody, he and Ms Stubbs took the girl to Bermuda, despite the fact he had promised to make sure the Toronto-area mother had easy access to the child.

Dr. MacLellan and Ms Stubbs were married on October 26, the day before they came to the Island.

The judge said Ms Stubbs should have told her about the affair, which was under way during the trial, to determine which parent should be awarded custody.

The couple remains on the Island and the father has since won another custody order from Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux.

But the father has been found in contempt of Ontario courts for failing to appear there when ordered. John Legge, lawyer for the mother, recently asked Madam Justice Wilson to reverse her earlier custody order and return the child to his client. Her ruling is expected soon.

It could lead to a conflict between Ontario and Bermuda over jurisdiction in the case.

Madam Justice Wilson said it was Mr. Legge who made the complaint to the Law Society about Ms Stubbs.

Mr. Heipel said it was against Law Society policy to confirm that a complaint had been made, but said the society which polices Ontario lawyers investigates "any and all complaints received''.

Some complaints are dealt with quickly and dismissed, but in other cases, a report is prepared and the law Society decides whether to lay a formal complaint, Mr. Heipel said. "At the point where a formal complaint is made, we make that complaint public.'' The report is then submitted to a discipline panel made up of three "benchers'' of the Law Society. Benchers, generally senior lawyers, are the 40 to 60 members of the convocation which governs the Law Society.

The panel's hearing is held in public, with both the Law Society and the lawyer in question represented by counsel. The panel then prepares another report, finding the lawyer guilty or not guilty and recommending a penalty.

The recommended penalty is sent to the entire convocation for a final decision, he said. "The penalties range from at the top end, disbarment, to suspension and various levels of reprimand,'' Mr. Heipel said. "Also, lawyers can be forced to pay certain fees,'' which are equivalent to fines.

Penalties levied and summaries of cases are also made public, Mr. Heipel said.