Disbarred Once More
The British Columbia Law Society Tribunal Hearing Division found that an already disbarred attorney had engaged in further misconduct
In May 2023, a hearing panel found that the Respondent committed professional misconduct when he sexually assaulted a potential client – a crime for which he was criminally convicted and sentenced. The hearing panel found that the client was vulnerable and had come to seek legal advice from the Respondent. Instead, he took advantage of her vulnerability, touched her sexually, and implied that she needed to be “nice” to him in order to have him assist her with her legal problem. The hearing panel characterized the conduct as reprehensible, dishonourable and displaying a complete lack of integrity
Here
The Law Society issued a citation on July 27, 2023 (the “Citation”) against the Respondent for sexually harassing his client, AR (the “Complainant”) between approximately January 2016 and November 2017 contrary to one or more of rules 2.2-1 and 6.3-3 of the Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (the “BC Code”) and his fiduciary duties, including through one or more of the following:
(a) unwelcome comments,
(b) unwelcome advances, and
(c) unwelcome physical contact.
Reporting delay
In the F&D Decision the Panel found the Respondent’s conduct towards the Complainant during a June 2016 office visit and an October 2016 court appearance (collectively referred to as the “Misconduct”) met the legal test of sexual harassment because the Misconduct was sexual in nature, unwelcome by the Complainant, and detrimentally affected the Complainant.
The Misconduct occurred while the Respondent was in a solicitor-client relationship with the Complainant. In the F&D Decision, the Hearing Panel accepted the Complainant’s evidence that in the aftermath of the June 2016 office visit she was “frozen with fear and petrified,” and that she cried in her car.
The Hearing Panel also accepted the Complainant’s evidence that she was afraid to say or do anything about the Misconduct for fear that she would not be able to get another lawyer because he had been appointed by legal aid, and because any complaint about the Respondent would be her word against that of the Respondent. It was not until the Complainant learned about the May 25, 2023 facts and determination decision (the first phase of the hearing in Scheirer #2) which found the Respondent had engaged in sexual assault of a prospective client, that the Complainant felt that she would be believed if she came forward with a complaint about the Misconduct.
The Complainant also testified about her personal history of dealing with trauma and abuse while growing up and in her most recent relationship, and that her experience with the Respondent led to her feeling “helpless and invisible”.
The Law Society submits that the nature and gravity of the Misconduct is extremely serious and requires a sanction of equal weight, and cited several cases in support of its submissions that lawyer misconduct arising from sexual harassment must be strongly denounced.
Sanction
The Panel agrees with the Law Society that the Respondent’s misconduct has harmed the reputation of the profession and must be strongly denounced, and that a second disbarment will send a strong message of deterrence towards this type of misconduct and is necessary to maintain public confidence in the integrity of the legal profession.
The public interest requires that the Respondent not be permitted to practice law and accordingly, the Panel orders that the Respondent be disbarred.
(Mike Frisch)