Additional One-Year Suspension For Domestic Abuse
Final discipline has been imposed for a domestic violence conviction by the Law Society of Alberta, which imposed a one-year additional suspension to a suspension required by statute
On October 6, 2017, the [criminal] court gave its decision on sentencing. Mr. Prithipaul received concurrent sentences of 12 months imprisonment for each of the three charges, to be served in the community pursuant to s.742.1 of the Criminal Code (a conditional sentence). By virtue of s. 83(7) of theLegal Profession Act, RSA 2000, c.L-8 (the Act), Mr. Prithipaul was automatically suspended from the practice of law for the duration of his conditional sentence. That suspension ends October 6, 2018. No appeal from the criminal conviction or sentence was taken and the time period for appealing has long since expired. Mr. Prithipaul has filed the requisite Application for Reinstatement with the LSA.
Sanction
The facts that bring us to this point are tragic and we would be remiss not to clearly state our denunciation of Mr. Prithipaul’s conduct. As noted by the sentencing Justice at the Court of Queen’s Bench:
There is not the faintest justification for Mr. Prithipaul’s conduct. It was abuse of a brutal, controlling, oppressive and selfish nature. It occurred repeatedly over many years and despite occasional promises to stop…
It is not easy to evaluate public confidence in the profession. However, faced with a lawyer who appears to have taken full responsibility for his actions and to have determinedly sought help, and carefully reviewing all the authorities brought to our attention, it is our opinion that a total two-year suspension would satisfy the factors we are to consider.
Given that Mr. Prithipaul has already been suspended for one year, albeit as a statutory automatic suspension, a further one-year suspension will be imposed by this Committee. The suspension will start October 6, 2018.
We note that Mr. Prithipaul has already applied for reinstatement. We strongly encourage and expect the LSA to deal expeditiously with that application, and well before October 6, 2019, so that the imposed suspension does not extend beyond the term imposed by this Committee.
A dissent would impose a six-month additional suspension.
The conduct was the subject of this report by Janice Johnston at CBC
Newlyweds Ravi and Shannon Prithipaul spent 1994 living in Paris.
It was the worst year of their long, abusive marriage, Shannon testified last year at a preliminary hearing into her husband’s assault charges.
“I remember one incident in particular, where Ravi had called me a moron, an idiot. He said I was dirty, and he knocked me down and dragged me by my hair into another portion of the room.”
She said her husband dumped a pail of dirty diapers on her head.
“It stood out from the other episodes of violence, because it was very demeaning,” she said. “It was humiliating. The other times had just been physically violent and painful, but that was very upsetting for other reasons.”
On Oct. 2, Edmonton criminal lawyer Ravi Prithipaul admitted in court that he had repeatedly abused his wife for 17 years during the course of their marriage. The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to criminal assault charges the day his trial was scheduled to begin.
Shannon told CBC News she is in the process of divorcing her husband and former law partner.
A Crown prosecutor was brought in from Calgary to prosecute the case, which was heard in Edmonton by Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Glen Poelman.
Ravi Prithipaul was sentenced on Oct. 6. He will not spend any time in jail. He was ordered to pay $600 in a victim fine surcharge and given one year of house arrest.
The Law Society of Alberta has suspended his practice for one year…
All that time [a 22-year marriage] , the Prithipauls were not only partners in marriage but legal partners with a thriving practice. She couldn’t get away from her abusive husband when she left the house for work.
“It felt hopeless,” she wrote. “No one knew what was happening. Going to work after having been assaulted and seeing the abuser at work was brutal. I had to constantly pretend all was fine. But I felt safe nowhere. I had no refuge anywhere.”
Four months after Ravi was criminally charged in June 2015, Shannon asked him to leave the firm.
“His first reaction was to threaten that he was going to try to get me to leave,” she wrote.
He continued to work at their firm for another two months before finally leaving to open his own business. She carried a police beeper with her everywhere for those two months.
“I was absolutely terrified. With Ravi facing serious consequences and sure that he saw me as the reason, I felt he could … really snap.
“The day he left, I began to breathe a little easier.”
(Mike Frisch)