Unfortunate

The Manitoba Law Society Discipline Hearing Panel reprimanded a respected attorney who practiced without sanction for over 50 years

Mr. Matas has been a Member of the Law Society of Manitoba since 1971. His career and his professional contributions to Manitoba, to Canada, and to the international community are well documented and have been nothing if not exemplary. That he has found himself for the first time before a Disciplinary Panel of the Law Society so late in that career is indeed unfortunate.

Conduct at issue

  On February 10, 2022, Mr. Matas gave an undertaking to the Society (the “Undertaking”). Pursuant to the Undertaking, Mr. Matas agreed to restrict his practice to acting as Counsel to other lawyers (described in the Undertaking as a “responsible lawyer”). Among other things, Mr. Matas undertook not to accept retainers from any person, and not to appear in Court or provide legal services directly to clients without a responsible lawyer being present. The Undertaking also required he advise his (former) clients they need to obtain alternate Counsel and transfer their files to such Counsel within certain timeframes.

Matas did not live up to that Undertaking in several respects with respect to seven individual clients…

Significantly, all the charges in this case relate to Mr. Matas’ dealings with only one of those seven lawyers.

The evidence before us is that the lawyer in question – a former articling student of his – appeared to feel they were Counsel “in name only”, that they asked Mr. Matas to collect some of their fees for them and, on at least one occasion, left Mr. Matas to appear in Court on his own. Nonetheless, while these facts are mitigating, they do not – and Mr. Wolson emphasized this fact – excuse his failure to discharge his obligations in the Undertaking.

The Society confirmed no clients were prejudiced in any way by Mr. Matas’ actions and that he gained no personal advantage. On the contrary, the Society confirmed Mr. Matas was “doing what he felt he had to do” to serve the clients’ interests.

Sanction

The Panel accepts the joint recommendation and orders Mr. Matas be given a formal reprimand and pay costs of $1,500 as a partial reimbursement of the costs the Society has incurred in investigating and prosecuting this matter.

(Mike Frisch)