An NWT Court of Appeal judge has given a lawyer a final extension to advance his appeal of an order requiring him to return $90,000 he was paid by the former head of the Łútsël K’é Dene First Nation’s business arm.
Ron Barlas, the former CEO of Denesoline Corporation, had wired the $90,000 retainer to Andrew Rogerson, an Ontario-based lawyer whose services included asset protection, on April 28, 2023.
Two days prior, the court had frozen the assets of Barlas and his wife as the First Nation pursued a lawsuit against him, which he subsequently lost.
In a scathing ruling in March 2025, NWT Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Devlin found the movement of the $90,000 violated the freezing order. He ordered Rogerson to return the full retainer and pay the First Nation $46,995.54 for money it spent fighting to recoup the funds.
The ruling states Rogerson also helped Barlas move more than $1 million worth of gold and silver from the NWT to his offices in Ontario, which has since been returned.
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Rogerson has not yet returned the $90,000, however. More than a year ago, he filed an appeal of Devlin’s ruling.
Missed deadlines and court appearances
Lawyers for the Łútsël K’é Dene First Nation recently asked the court to dismiss that appeal, arguing Rogerson has done little to advance it and has missed numerous deadlines for filing documents alongside at least two scheduled court appearances.
Appearing in court on Tuesday, a lawyer for the First Nation alleged this was “yet another example” of Rogerson’s improper conduct. He pointed to Devlin’s ruling, which concluded Rogerson had “engaged in a course of obstructionist conduct in response to efforts to have him account for or return the retainer.”
“There is no merit at all to Mr Rogerson’s appeal,” the lawyer claimed.
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Rogerson, who disputes Devlin’s findings, argued the delays in advancing his appeal were due to being hospitalized for pneumonia and having his licence to practice law suspended, resulting in the “collapse” of his law practice. He also placed some blame on the challenges of dealing with a court case in the NWT from Ontario.
“I’ve pretty much had my hands full,” he said.
In August 2025, an Ontario tribunal suspended Rogerson’s licence on a temporary basis, finding there were “reasonable grounds to believe there is a significant risk to the public and to the public interest in the administrative of justice” if he were allowed to continue to practise law.
The tribunal raised concerns not only about Rogerson’s refusal to return the $90,000 retainer, but also his refusal to be cross-examined by a female lawyer on the matter “for an invented and meritless reason, and then dismissing her with a sexist remark.”
In his own ruling, Devlin noted that at the time of the remark, Rogers was under a one-month suspension by the Law Society of Ontario for having engaged in sexual harassment toward some of his female employees, among other unprofessional conduct.
Rogerson said he is awaiting the outcome of an appeal of his current licence suspension.
Judge grants final extension
On Tuesday, while NWT Court of Appeal Justice Dawn Pentelechuk expressed concern that Rogerson had not filed evidence to support his arguments, she granted him a final extension on his appeal of Devlin’s ruling. She acknowledged it can be challenging dealing with a legal matter in another jurisdiction.
If Rogerson does not file documents to advance his appeal by the end of May 14, Pentelechuk said the appeal will be struck. She noted the court has “extended every opportunity” for him to perfect the appeal.
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“There is no debate that you have been given a very wide berth,” she said.
If the appeal is struck, Pentelechuk said Rogerson could apply to the court for it to be restored.
The Łútsël K’é Dene First Nation’s legal battle with Rogerson is among a series of lawsuits it is engaged in to try to recover millions of dollars in misappropriated funds.
The First Nation won its lawsuit against Barlas in July 2024. The NWT Supreme Court found he had “engaged in egregious conduct” by siphoning money intended to benefit the First Nation into companies owned by his family, among other wrongdoing.
That decision has since been upheld on appeal. A trial is pending to determine the financial losses the First Nation has suffered.
The First Nation is also pursuing lawsuits against accounting firm KPMG – which is currently on hold – and law firm Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer, alleging the companies knowingly assisted Barlas in wrongdoing. Both firms have denied the claims.
