If you steal money can bet you’ll be punished. But what if a lawyer misappropriates funds from a client? Is justice served? Because Canadians often turn to lawyers when we’re at our must vulnerable it’s a relationship built on trust. We took a closer look at what happens when that trust is betrayed. This exhaustive review of court records and law society disciplinary files revealed how lawyers across Canada misappropriated and mishandled client money, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars — sometimes even charging vulnerable people top dollar for shoddy services. The research amassed by CBC found its way onto multiple platforms: The Fifth Estate, The National, CBC NewsNet, CBC Radio, and multiple local markets used the research to produce local stories. Betrayal of Trust generated a ton of original journalism that revealed some of the country’s most vulnerable people were fleeced by their lawyers and there was very little being done to stop them.