Latest news with #LawSocietyofManitoba
CTV News
14 hours ago
- CTV News
Lawyer found guilty of 17 counts of misconduct: Law Society of Manitoba
A Manitoba lawyer has been found guilty of 17 counts of professional misconduct by the Law Society of Manitoba, with disciplinary measures to be decided at a later date. The decision dated June 20, 2025, found Paul Sydney Vyamucharo-Shawa breached the Law Society of Manitoba's Code of Professional Conduct following hearings that spanned eight months. A three-person panel found the 67-year-old sole practitioner guilty of offences such as breach of integrity, failure to treat the court with 'candour, courtesy and respect,' recording conversations with clients and other lawyers without their consent, and sending abusive or offensive correspondence. 'The panel cannot escape the very distinct impression that Mr. Vyamucharo-Shawa, to this day, lacks insight into the impact his behaviours and his words—spoken or written—have on others in the profession with whom he deals with on a daily basis,' reads part of the 78-page decision. The charges come after three citations were filed against him between 2022 and 2024, pertaining to a fee dispute with a former client, a real estate transaction and a litigation matter. Several of the charges pertain to letters he sent to a Court of King's Bench justice and the society, including asserting that the justice was 'continuing to hog and not doing the needful' and was engaging in 'needless improper interference with access to justice.' Vyamucharo-Shawa was previously suspended from practising law for six months in 2019 after pleading guilty to five counts of professional misconduct, according to files with the Law Society of Manitoba. In 2008, he also pled guilty to four charges of professional misconduct, and in 2000, he pled guilty to nine charges of professional misconduct—with multiple charges relating to misappropriation of nearly $20,000 from a trust account. In 1999, he accepted a formal caution for breaching a trust condition. The latest decision says the discipline committee administrator will be contacted to arrange a date for a hearing on sanctions.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
City lawyer guilty of 17 counts of misconduct: watchdog
A Winnipeg lawyer with a history of legal misdeeds has been found guilty of 17 counts of professional misconduct by the province's legal watchdog. Paul Sydney Vyamucharo-Shawa, who has practised law in Manitoba since 1989, will face a disciplinary hearing before the Law Society of Manitoba at a later date. A law society panel heard evidence over seven months and found the 67-year-old sole practitioner guilty of offences that include sending abusive or offensive correspondence, failing to treat the court with 'candour, courtesy and respect,' recording meetings with clients and other lawyers without their consent, failing to discharge his duties to clients and other lawyers 'honourably and with integrity,' and failing to inform a client he was practising under supervision. 'The panel cannot escape the very distinct impression that Mr. Vyamucharo-Shawa, to this day, lacks insight into the impact his behaviours and his words — spoken and written — have on others in the profession with whom he deals on a daily basis,' the panel wrote in a 78-page decision released June 20. Vyamucharo-Shawa was first called to the bar in Malawai in 1982 and told the law society he was the first person of African descent to be admitted to the Manitoba bar. The law society panel described Vyamucharo-Shaw's testimony as 'compelling' when describing discrimination he has experienced and 'exasperating' during his lengthy monologues detailing disagreements with the law society, court, and other lawyers. 'The panel is particularly concerned with what it perceives to be a refusal, or perhaps an inability, on the part of Mr. Vyamucharo-Shawa to accept responsibility and accountability for conduct which was clearly and demonstrably unacceptable,' the panel wrote. 'This is yet another reason why the panel believes that his evidence is generally unreliable.' Law society records show that in 2019 Vyamucharo-Shawa was suspended from the practice of law for six months and ordered to pay $10,000 in hearing costs after he was found guilty of professional misconduct related to his representation of clients in three real estate transactions. 'When one turns to the member's record… one has grave concerns that permitting the member to return to practice after six months may well not be in the public interest,' the hearing panel wrote in its decision at the time, citing a professional history littered with allegations of misconduct. In 1999, Vyamucharo-Shawa received a caution for breaching a trust condition. A year later he pleaded guilty to nine counts of professional misconduct, including misappropriating nearly $20,000 from a trust account. He was suspended from practice for one year and ordered to pay $10,000 in hearing costs. In 2008, Vyamucharo-Shawa pleaded guilty to four charges related to assisting clients to defraud others and holding funds in his trust account to which he was not entitled. He was suspended for six months and ordered to pay $5000 in hearing costs. That same year, Vyamucharo-Shawa was investigated for allegedly assisting another client perpetrate a fraud and using his trust account to help a client hide money. Vyamucharo-Shawa was not charged with any offences but entered an undertaking not to practise law for five years following the expiry of his six-month suspension. Vyamucharo-Shawa returned to practice under law society-ordered supervision in 2015. Dean PritchardCourts reporter Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean. Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
18-03-2025
- CBC
Manitoba lawyer disbarred over 'fraudulent billing scheme' that invoiced public legal funds
A lawyer who used a "fraudulent billing scheme" to invoice a legal-assistance program for low-income Manitobans has been disbarred after the province's legal society found him guilty on multiple counts of professional misconduct. In a Feb. 3 decision, a Law Society of Manitoba panel found Rishi Ganesh Bharath, who was first called to the bar in 2016, guilty on five charges of professional misconduct. A notice of disbarment was published earlier this month. Bharath's scheme involved taking on clients receiving assistance from Legal Aid Manitoba — a provincial program that provides legal assistance to Manitobans who cannot afford to hire a lawyer — and withdrawing representation under false pretenses, while still charging Legal Aid Manitoba the full amount related to each case. Between 2022 and 2023, six clients experienced a consistent pattern of unethical behaviour: Bharath took on Legal Aid Manitoba certificates and provided limited services, before abruptly closing the certificates and claiming he lost contact with the client. In several cases, the law society says he continued to have contact with clients after he had already closed their certificates. Under the society's code of conduct, lawyers cannot withdraw representation "except for good cause and on reasonable notice to the client." In the case of one client — referred to as Client A in Citation 1 of the decision document — Bharath attacked their character, claiming Client A had gang affiliations and "an extensive criminal record," despite there being no criminal record in the client file materials, the society wrote. Bharath blamed other clients — outlined in Citation 2, submitted by Legal Aid Manitoba — for his withdrawal of representation, suggesting that addiction and mental-health issues affected clients' abilities to respond. Both Legal Aid Manitoba and the Law Society of Manitoba investigated Bharath's conduct, finding billing irregularities that the lawyer then attempted to cover up. On two occasions, Bharath created fraudulent documents during the investigations "in an apparent effort to evade responsibility," the law society wrote in its decision. Bharath claimed he wrote a letter to Client A on Aug. 25, 2022, stating "I have not heard from you in a while," despite the Legal Aid Manitoba certificate being issued days before. He charged Legal Aid Manitoba for 90 minutes of his time to draft this letter. Client A says the letter was never received and the law society found that Bharath fabricated the letter to mislead its investigation. When questioned about specific charges, the society says Bharath changed his invoices to misrepresent his work and the time he spent doing it, in order to maintain his eligibility to charge the full amount for each case. The society also found Bharath to be "ungovernable," charging him with professional misconduct after he stopped responding to law society communications in January 2024. He did not respond to any of the hearing materials, nor did he submit any written statements or legal documents. The panel ordered that Bharath pay a $9,200 penalty at a disciplinary hearing last November, which he did not attend. No legal representative attended on his behalf. The Law Society of Manitoba says Bharath submitted an application to withdraw from active practice on Feb. 28, 2024. While he is now non-practicing, the society says his withdrawal "has no impact on the Society's obligation to protect the public." Bharath's conduct "went to the heart of the Society's public protection role and the purpose of discipline," the society wrote, adding that "the public were victims of misappropriation" in the lawyer's billing scheme.
