(Don’t) Leave It To Beaver

A Hearing Committee of the Alberta Law Society has suspended an attorney for one year as a result of his collaboration with a disbarred lawyer

Mr. Green was called to the Alberta Bar in 1994. He is a sole practitioner in Edmonton and for the most part practices in the area of criminal law, primarily with clients of Legal Aid Alberta. He was a long-time close friend of Shawn Beaver, a former criminal lawyer whom Mr. Green met in law school. The LSA suspended Mr. Beaver on May 28, 2015 for misappropriating client trust funds, and disbarred him on February 15, 2017. A Notice to the Profession concerning Mr. Beaver’s disbarment was sent out on February 16, 2017.

Facts

 In the Amended Statement, Mr. Green admitted that between December 16, 2016 and December 19, 2019, he worked with Mr. Beaver on 55 client files. During this period, he and Mr. Beaver exchanged numerous e-mails discussing the files, fees, litigation strategy, and pleas, and also exchanged disclosure materials.

 Mr. Green further admitted that Mr. Beaver provided legal services on these client matters, including preparing arguments and legal briefs; research; consultation; providing legal advice, legal opinions, and legal strategies; reviewing disclosure; and drafting correspondence to the Crown.

According to the Amended Statement, Mr. Green started to collaborate with Mr. Beaver after Mr. Green loaned Mr. Beaver a total of $25,000 in late 2014 and early 2015. Mr. Beaver offered to repay the loan by providing legal work.

However, after the debt was paid, Mr. Beaver continued to do legal work in collaboration with Mr. Green, and Mr. Green paid Mr. Beaver directly from his (Mr. Green’s) personal bank account. Therefore, while Mr. Beaver started working for Mr. Green prior to his (Mr. Beaver’s) suspension by the LSA, he continued to do so through his suspension and disbarment.

Mr. Green admitted that he was aware Mr. Beaver was disbarred during this time but continued to work with him anyway, and thereby knowingly assisted Mr. Beaver to engage in the unauthorized practice of law. Mr. Green said that he did not tell anyone else about this arrangement because he recognized that it was not right. The vast majority of the clients on whose files Mr. Beaver worked were unaware of Mr. Beaver’s involvement.

 Mr. Green also admitted that in the course of collaborating with Mr. Beaver on the client files, he provided confidential client information to Mr. Beaver without the clients’ knowledge or consent. Mr. Green therefore breached solicitor-client privilege, as he admitted in the Amended Statement.

Sanction

The Committee finds that Mr. Green’s misconduct was very serious. It was perpetrated by an experienced senior lawyer, extended over a long period of time (approximately four-and-a-half years), and involved dozens of client files. Section 109 of the Act provides that anyone who contravenes section 108 is guilty of an offence. This demonstrates the seriousness with which the Legislature has viewed this kind of conduct.

While it does not appear that any of Mr. Green’s clients were specifically harmed, he exposed them to the risk of harm by permitting a suspended and then disbarred lawyer to work on their files and access their confidential information, all without their knowledge or consent. The sanctity of solicitor-client privilege is a fundamental tenet of our legal system, and Mr. Green breached both his clients’ privilege and his undertaking to the Crown not to share disclosure packages with third parties.

(Mike Frisch)