A lawyer for the estranged wife of Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini argued Tuesday against Aquilini’s bid to shield their divorce court proceedings from publicity.
The owner of the NHL team has applied for a court order that would restrict access to the court file and any reasons for judgment, court orders, affidavits and transcripts.
He claims publicity could harm the financial interests of the team and his lawyer, George Macintosh, said Tuesday that he was seeking an interim order that would seal the court file until the application could be fully argued in August.
He told B.C. Supreme Court Madam Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein that the interests of his client and the Aquilini family would be negatively impacted by publicity.
Macintosh argued that in matrimonial cases, privacy rights are given “signicant” weight compared to the open-court principle.
He told the judge that there were confidentiality agreements in the business dealings of his client that needed to be protected.
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And he argued that protection and welfare of the couple’s five children ought to be a major factor in the judge’s decision.
But a lawyer for Taliah Aquilini, who is seeking a divorce from her husband, quoted from a recent court decision declining an application for confidentiality in a divorce case.
The judge in that case declined to substitute initials for the full names of the parties, one of them a lawyer, by stating that it would promote more honesty and reasonableness.
Tracy Jackson, a lawyer for Taliah Aquilini, said her client was worried about Francesco Aquilini conducting himself “under a cloud of secrecy” in the litigation and in an “unreasonable” and “unnecessarily aggressive” manner.
“In fact, with the benefit of public scrutiny, Mr. Aquilini will be more likely to behave and conduct himself in the litigation in a more reasonable fashion.”
Jackson said that “the cat’s out of the bag” and where there is already publicity in a case, the courts should be less likely to grant a sealing order.
She said Francesco Aquilini is already a public figure and Taliah Aquilini has already provided evidence in her materials about the public nature in the way he has conducted himself.
Jackson said it doesn’t make sense for the Canucks owner to now say, as he does in his affidavit, that his wife will accuse him of infidelity and that it will have a negative impact on his children.
She said her client says Aquilini admitted to her that he was going out on the town, frequenting bars, restaurants and nightclubs, that there were other women during the marriage and that he admitted his conduct showed little regard for his children or the family.
“It’s too little too late to say that Mr. Aquilini is now concerned about that impact. Mr. Aquilini was not concerned about his conduct at the time he engaged in it.”
Paul Albi, a lawyer for other members of the Aquilini family involved in the family business, told the judge that there was a “very high level” of concern among family members about publicity and he supported Macintosh’s application.
He said the family has already cooperated fully with production of documents, on the basis that the information would remain confidential.
The judge said she expected to give her ruling Thursday.
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