“Slap On The Wrist”
The British Columbia Law Society Hearing Division imposed a three-month suspension for intimate partner violence despite the victim’s call for more severe discipline
CC urged this Panel to suspend the Respondent for 18 months or more. Such a lengthy suspension would stretch far beyond the range of Law Society sanctions previously imposed on lawyers who physically assaulted their intimate partner. It would also far exceed the four-month suspension sought here by the Law Society. In similar circumstances of physical assault on an intimate partner, the lawyer in Kang received a two-month suspension. In more egregious circumstances involving premeditation and prolonged physical assault on a former intimate partner, the lawyer in Suntok received a three-month suspension.
CBC News reported on the sanction
A West Vancouver lawyer who admitted to beating up his then-girlfriend while also representing her in divorce proceedings has been suspended from practice for three months.
Michael Murph Ranspot will also have to pay $12,087 in costs to the Law Society of B.C. for professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming a lawyer, according to a disciplinary decision issued on March 18.
But for Ranspot’s ex-girlfriend, who has waited more than six years for Ranspot to be sanctioned, the decision comes as a major disappointment. CBC has agreed not to name her because she fears for her safety, but she is referred to by the initials CC in law society proceedings.
She had argued for an 18-month suspension, and described the much shorter disciplinary period as a “slap on the wrist,” pointing out that Ranspot has been disciplined by the law society twice before.
“These penalties are not serious enough to cause a hindrance or force change,” CC said.
“These insignificant inconveniences are not effective at impacting … these ‘officers of the court,’ people who are the most educated on the laws of this country — the same people the public expects to know right from wrong.”
Ranspot beat her up inside her home on Dec. 31, 2015, causing injuries serious enough to send CC to the hospital. The law society has described the nature of the assault as “severe.”
He pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm in November 2016 and was later given a 16-month conditional discharge, meaning he served a term of probation before the finding of guilt was removed from his criminal record.
Our prior reporting of the proceedings is linked here. (Mike Frisch)