Man Oh Manitoba
The Manitoba Law Society Discipline Hearing Panel found misconduct by the former Dean of the University of Manitoba Law School
The Member did not practice law in the conventional sense but held a prestigious position as Dean of the Law School, and as Director of the Desautels Centre, where the profession and community expects the incumbent to behave with the utmost good faith. The Martin affidavit indicates that in this small faculty of 350 students, the University has never previously experienced concerns of any financial improprieties by its leaders. Until this Member became Dean, the Law Faculty has earned the trust it has enjoyed. Marcia Kort served under two prior deans of Law and had never previously had concerns of financial impropriety, despite the opportunities for misconduct of which this Member took advantage. That the Member would have engaged in this misconduct to this extent, for this length of time, on this many occasions, in this many forms, and involving this many others in the processing of his improper claims is a particular concern and makes the proven allegations in the Citation even more serious.
He had sought adjournment of the proceedings on medical grounds
After considering the motion to adjourn and the evidence in support of it, and after considering the position of the Society and the principles regarding adjournment requests set out above, the Panel decided unanimously to deny the motion to adjourn, for the reasons stated by Society Counsel. The matter proceeded on November 21, 2023. The Member was immediately notified that his motion had been denied. There was no further correspondence from the Member from then on through to the end of the hearing.
The allegations involved significant misuse of University funds
The Member’s false claims of entertaining guests at Winnipeg restaurants amounted to fraud, when he wrongfully obtained reimbursement for meals purportedly involving the University s or the Centres business. His processing of vast amounts of university funds for Ivy League courses, outside the terms of reference of the funds charged, without disclosure to or approval of more senior UM representatives, and double charging for meals while on those courses not only involve the appearance of impropriety and were morally reprehensible and were at the very least dishonourable and questionable conduct. The Member devised a scheme to improperly obtain financial benefits in a system calculated to avoid oversight of more senior administrators or the UM s legal department. When his subordinates sought to question the legitimacy of the actions they were directed to take, the Member told them, directly and indirectly, to “stop asking questions and just pay it”. He then had the temerity to suggest that his actions were permitted because he had the approval of his subordinate staff. This egregious behaviour does not reflect well on UM, the profession and on the administration of justice, as prohibited by the Code.
A hearing will be set to assess the penalty.
CBC News reported on the findings
The University of Manitoba is asking police to investigate a former law school dean after a regulatory body ruled he committed professional misconduct and misused about half a million dollars of university funds.
The announcement marks a shift, as the U of M has previously said it declined to seek civil or criminal charges against Jonathan Black-Branch, after allegations surfaced in 2020 that he inappropriately spent about $500,000 of university money.
A U of M spokesperson told CBC News on Friday that it made the request to Winnipeg police on Thursday, on the heels of a decision from a Law Society of Manitoba disciplinary panel.
The regulatory body’s panel found Black-Branch breached his integrity during his tenure as a dean, from 2016 until 2020, when he left suddenly and without public explanation.
In a 28-page written decision dated Dec. 15, the panel suggested proof of professional misconduct presented at Black-Branch’s hearing was strong enough “that even if the standard had been the criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt, the panel would have been satisfied that proof was sufficient.”
When asked why administration has decided now to ask for a police investigation, the U of M pointed to that specific passage in the ruling, which the university received on Monday.
“Our legal team reviewed the decision and yesterday we asked the WPS to investigate,” a U of M spokesperson said in an email on Friday.
The University of Manitoba said a day earlier that it welcomed the law society’s findings and was “engaging with the Winnipeg Police Service.” While that Thursday statement said “that process is ongoing,” it did not say the university had asked police to investigate.
That statement came after five professors in the U of M faculty of law sent a letter to the Winnipeg Police Service earlier on Thursday, encouraging a police investigation following the law society’s ruling.
It suggested the university “may have documentation and/or additional information that may be relevant to a potential criminal investigation” into Black-Branch’s actions.
Police confirmed to CBC News on Friday that they had received the professors’ letter. A spokesperson did not say whether it has received U of M’s request to investigate Black-Branch.
The U of M had previously said it declined to pursue civil or criminal action against Black-Branch, and instead opted to raise its concerns in a complaint to the law society in 2020, a decision that drew criticism.
The law society decision came just shy of a month after the conclusion of Black-Branch’s misconduct hearing. He was not present for the hearing and did not put forward a defence.
The law society panel decision says Black-Branch “devised a scheme” to skirt oversight and wrongfully benefit himself financially, using hundreds of thousands of dollars from an endowment fund for students to pay for his own training at Ivy League schools.
The panel also found he charged the U of M for thousands more in “false claims of entertaining guests at Winnipeg restaurants [that] amounted to fraud.”
“This egregious behaviour does not reflect well on UM, the profession and on the administration of justice,” reads a passage of the law society panel decision.
The law society panel has yet to set a hearing date to determine how Black-Branch will be disciplined. He could be suspended, reprimanded or barred from practising law in Manitoba.
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