Stolen Valor

The Ontario Law Society Tribunal Hearing Division has imposed a four-month suspension

In Law Society of Ontario v. McKöena, 2024 ONLSTH 91, we found Dennis Kashmeel Keevantoza McKöena, (the Lawyer), misrepresented himself as an officer currently serving in the Canadian Armed Forces in phone calls with members of the military police on August 2, 2021. As a result, the Lawyer was charged with falsely representing himself as a public officer. He did not report this charge to the Law Society for seven months, only doing so only after a complaint was made to the Law Society. The Lawyer denied having misrepresented himself even after being confronted with a recording of his call to the military police. We found that in doing so he misled the Law Society.

The Lawyer argued that his conduct was not intentional and was attributable to mental health issues and family challenges. While accepting the Lawyer struggles with a serious mental health condition and that his child was very ill at the relevant times, on the evidence presented to us we were unable to find either his disability or family stressors explained or contributed to the misconduct.

Sanction

A four-month suspension falls in the middle of the range of penalties ordered by the Tribunal in the decisions including those arrived at by joint submission relied on by the Law Society. It reflects the seriousness and duration of the misconduct as well the uncertainty as to whether it was out of character or might reoccur. It meets the goal of general deterrence while at the same time considering the Lawyer’s extenuating circumstances.

(Mike Frisch)