On Saturday, Vancouver Sun staffers Jeff Lee and Doug Alexander reported the Law Society of British Columbia and the federal Justice Department were looking into allegations of overbilling at a Lobay Dennison Beaubier, a Nanaimo law partnership. The society and the federal government have fingered Shane Dennison, a criminal prosecution specialist, as the lawyer responsible for the alleged overbillings, which mostly involved drug prosecution work. Seventeen paragraphs into the piece, Messrs. Lee and Alexander mention that Mr. Dennisson also happens to be president of the Nanaimo-Alberni Liberal riding association. But what they didn't report is that there's an even bigger Grit fish working at that firm: David Lobay.

Mr. Lobay unsuccessfully ran as the federal Liberal candidate in Nanaimo-Alberni during the 1997 election, coming 29 percentage points behind Reform candidate Bill Gilmour. He's reportedly been a major fundraiser for Prime Minister Paul Martin, having personally donated $1,000 to his leadership campaign.

And, like recent Saanich-Gulf Islands candidate and drug prosecution contract winner David Mulroney, questions have been raised about whether Mr. Lobay has used his extensive political connections to win federal government contracts for a law firm he worked with until 2003: Hunter Garrett Lobay (now Hunter Garrett). But when asked if he saw a link between those connections and his contracts by Lawyers Weekly Ottawa bureau chief Cristin Schmitz, Mr. Lobay replied, "I don't see any, quite frankly."

Since 1995, Mr. Lobay, David J. Lobay Law Corp. and Hunter Garrett Lobay have donated $49,650.29 to the federal Liberals. Over the same period, according to The Lawyers Weekly, Hunter Garrett Lobay earned more than $5,468,905.10 from federal contracts and was listed as one of the top-billing firms in the country. It's also noteworthy that the firm's annual billing numbers nearly tripled following the 1997 election. The Vancouver Sun also reports Lobay Dennison Beaubier, Mr. Lobay's brand-new law partnership, earned $1,139,509 from federal contracts in fiscal 2004/05.

David Lobay's Donations & Billings

1995 - donates $1,141 to the federal Liberals; billed $94,975 in fiscal 1996/97
1996 - donates $1,833 to the federal Liberals; billed $205,966 in fiscal 1997/98
1997 - donates $5,928 to the federal Liberals: billed $$386,541 in fiscal 1998/99
1998 - donates $4,382 to the federal Liberals; billed $965,738 in fiscal 1999/00
1999 - donates $6,505 to the federal Liberals; billed $710,590 in fiscal 2000/01
2000 - donates $9,126 to the federal Liberals; billed $1,041,360.59 in fiscal 2001/00
2001 - donates $10,565.49 to the federal Liberals; billed $818,039 in fiscal 2002/01
2002 - donates $10,169.80 to the federal Liberals; billed $1,245,695.51 in fiscal 2003/04