By Brian Baxter, From The Am Law Daily

A week after a Husch Blackwell partner left the firm in the wake of a sexting snafu, a prominent lawyer in Canada has been caught up in a sex scandal of a different sort.

Marcel Aubut, a former head of the Canadian Olympic Committee and one-time CEO of the National Hockey League’s now-defunct Quebec Nordiques, resigned last week from his Montreal-based law firm in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal.

“It’s from the bottom of my heart and with all sincerity that I offer my apologies without reservation,” said Aubut, 67, at a press conference Friday. “I infinitely regret to have hurt people who have not deserved it. I hope one day they will forgive me.”

Aubut’s profile on the website of BCF, where he was a corporate partner and vice chair of the firm from its offices in Montreal and Quebec City, has been taken down. Aubut led a 30-lawyer team that joined BCF last year after they fled collapsing Canadian legal giant Heenan Blaikie, which back in 1998 merged with Aubut Chabot, a firm that Aubut formed in 1983.

In leaving BCF, Aubut said he would seek counseling for his actions, promised to become a better person and expressed remorse for not adjusting his inappropriate behavior. Several women have come forward in recent weeks and accused Aubut of unwanted touching and making sexually suggestive comments.

Aubut, a lawyer emeritus for the Quebec Bar Association and member of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, released his first statement on Oct. 3 in response to the sexual harassment allegations by announcing that he would resign as president of the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Tricia Smith, a Vancouver lawyer and former Canadian Olympian, has been named to replace Aubut as head of the COC on an interim basis. The organization has hired Toronto-based employment law firm Rubin Thomlinson to conduct an internal investigation into complaints filed against Aubut during his tenure as head of the COC.)

The Toronto Star reported over the weekend that some of Aubut’s alleged actions involved wearing boxer shorts around his office, as well as groping or kissing other women in the workplace, some of them secretaries. Aubut is not the subject of any known criminal investigation.

Aubut’s now-former firm BCF said through a statement issued by partner and chairman of the board André Morrissette that it was committed to “taking all necessary steps to provide” employees with a “healthy workplace that is free of any kinds of harassment.”

Morrissette, a commercial and tax lawyer based in Montreal, added in BCF’s statement that the firm welcomed Aubut’s acknowledgment of his mistakes and desire to make things right during an “extremely difficult time” for his family.

“We have expressed our support for Mr. Aubut’s decision to undertake steps to make lasting changes in his behavior toward others,” the firm said. “He will start this new and important chapter in his life surrounded by his loved ones and we wish him well.”

IMAGE: Bernard Weil/Getty Images

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