The Council of Sworn Advocates must evaluate Bordāns' lies

The Latvian Council of Sworn Advocates will review how ethical was the use of the name of the Minister of Justice by Wall, the law office of the Minister of Justice Jānis Bordāns, even though Bordāns suspended his activities in the law office already in 2018 after joining the Saeima.

The situation would have gone unnoticed if the TV show Nekā personīga on February 28 of this year had not looked into the dispute between the heirs of JSC Olainfarm. There, one of the parties hired Wall, J. Bordāns' law firm. J. Bordāns is still a partner in it together with the other partner Gundars Āboliņš. Anyone interested can find out about it on their website wall.lv.

Until February 28, the website of the law firm informed that J. Bordāns is the leading and driving force of the law firm. Namely, until March 12, the website announced that the team is led by two partners - J. Bordāns and G. Āboliņš. It was also made clear that J. Bordāns was currently the Minister of Justice, but there was no indication that his activities as a lawyer had been suspended. On the contrary, there is even an office e-mail where you can turn if you need help.

Thus, for example, it is clear from the Minister's tweet embedded on the website that J. Bordāns was in Latgale, took care of nationally important things there, was able to return from there and has not forgotten about the office and is ready to meet his colleagues and clients tomorrow.

The News section of the website contains many links where you can watch the Minister of Justice's speeches on television or read his publications in the media.

The website of the law firm gives a clear impression that the firm has not only legal intelligence but also a huge power of the state - the Minister of Justice himself is a guarantee of a positive solution to client problems.

Nekā personīga changed the idyll of this office a little with its broadcast, asking how ethical it was for J. Bordāns to combine the position of the Minister of Justice with the use of his name in the law firm.

Despite what is obvious on the Wall website, J. Bordāns had the guts to announce in front of the TV camera without blinking an eye: "I do not know how the law firm Wall works at the moment. I have been suspended as a lawyer for several years now and am performing completely different duties. At no point have I interacted with any interests of my clients that I've gained in my experience as a lawyer for 25 years. I have, of course, had partners throughout my professional career, which is quite inevitable for a lawyer. I have always kept an absolute distance from any issues that may be related to something I have done in my life before.”

Most likely, due to the broadcast, a new entry “Jānis Bordāns has temporarily suspended operations in the office” and another entry “The team is led by the managing partner Gundars Āboliņš” appeared on the website under the section Partners after February 28. Twitter posts have also disappeared.

One of the phone numbers is missing in the Contacts section.

However, the News section of the website is still decorated with posts about J. Bordāns' speeches in various media.

Sandra Sleja, Chair of the Ethics Commission of the Council of Sworn Advocates, explained to the program that the information provided by the law firm should in no way mislead clients to think that the firm is able to settle client cases at the state level: “This is unacceptable. The case you mentioned (referring to the information posted on Wall website about the Minister of Justice), if it truly consists of this, can lead to a misconception not only about this office. If the law firm indicates that they have well-known government officials and they will help you win all sorts of things on that basis, it unfortunately creates a negative impression on the bar as a whole.”

The situation was not limited to lying about the distance from the law firm. In the program, J. Bordāns revealed that his freelance adviser at the Ministry of Justice is none other than Maija Āboliņa, the wife of the other partner G. Āboliņš. When asked by the journalist why her name is not posted on the website of the Ministry, J. Bordāns answered: "I cannot answer that, since I do not compose the website of the Ministry of Justice."

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