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An Ottawa lawyer has been disbarred after the Law Society of Upper Canada ruled he "took financial advantage" of a vulnerable couple in their mid-80s. The law society hearing panel concluded on Nov. 23 that Peter Alan Ludwig engaged in professional misconduct and acted "without integrity" when he prepared wills for the Ottawa couple in which he was named a beneficiary, and accepted gifts that included his purchase of the couple's Jockvale Road home for $100,000 -- even though it was worth significantly more -- and $27,000 in cash. Mr. Ludwig also practised law while his membership status listed him as retired, not working or "employed other," and without proper insurance, the hearing panel determined. The couple, Claire and Francis Heggtveit, died in 2003. In its decision, the three-person panel, chaired by W. Dan Chilcott, found Mr. Ludwig "systemically preyed" upon the Heggtveits for his own financial gain, using "their deteriorating physical and mental health to ensure their affairs could be manipulated to his financial advantage. "There is no doubt, in the view of this panel, that the member's actions demonstrate one of the worst traits of human nature," said the panel in its reasons for the decision. "The member did not conduct himself in such a way as to maintain the integrity of the profession," said the panel. An investigation into Mr. Ludwig's conduct was launched in January 2003, when a lawyer for Mr. and Mrs. Heggtveit's nephew, Richard St. John, filed a complaint with the law society. The couple died soon after, within a few months of each other. During the hearing, which took place over six days in June of this year, the panel heard evidence of how Mr. Ludwig blurred the line between his roles as a friend and lawyer to the couple, whom he had known for about seven years before their deaths. According to hearing documents, Mrs. Heggtveit first named Mr. Ludwig as a 10-per-cent beneficiary of her estate in July 2000. But by November 2002, hearing documents showed Mr. Ludwig had both Mr. and Mrs. Heggtveit execute wills in which he was granted a 50-per-cent residue of each estate. The wills were never executed, however, as the Public Guardian and Trustee took over the Heggtveits' financial affairs in the months before their deaths. In addition to being naming Mr. Ludwig a beneficiary, hearing documents showed Mrs. Heggtveit transferred a 35-per-cent interest in her home -- which a real estate agent had valued at about $275,000 -- to Mr. Ludwig in November 2001 as a gift. Then, in July 2002, Mrs. Heggtveit transferred the remaining 65-per-cent interest in the home to Mr. Ludwig, in exchange for $100,000. At the time of the transfers, Mrs. Heggtveit, who was awarded a Governor General's Persons Case Award in 1998 following a career as a federal economist, was described as suffering from memory loss and confusion, as well as heart problems, according to the hearing documents. Her husband, who signed spousal consent on the transfers, was wheelchair-bound and required "total care," including help getting out of bed and to the toilet. Staff at Carleton Lodge, where the couple lived, considered him a safety and choking risk, and he required a full minced diet. In 2002, Mrs. Heggtveit also wrote cheques of $10,000, $9,000 and $8,000 to Mr. Ludwig, the hearing heard. Reached at his Ottawa home, Mr. Ludwig declined to comment yesterday, instead referring calls to his Toronto lawyer, Jane Kelly. Ms. Kelly did not return a call or e-mail yesterday. According to law society documents, Mr. Ludwig is a chartered accountant and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. He has a master's degree in business administration from the University of Toronto, a bachelor of law degree from Queen's University and a master of laws from New York University. He is a member of the Bar of the City of New York and a member of the New York County Law Association, although he does not practise law, the documents said. In addition to being disbarred, Mr. Ludwig was ordered to pay $20,000 to the law society in costs.
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