5 days ago
Veteran B.C. lawyer disbarred, found ‘ungovernable' by law society, again
A veteran Kamloops, B.C., lawyer has been disbarred for the second time in just over a year after the provincial law society once again found him 'ungovernable' by the standards of the profession.
Nickolaus Harold MacDonald Weiser was suspended at least a half-dozen times in his legal career before he was first disbarred from practising in March 2024.
The official reprimands did not appear to slow him down, however, prompting a Law Society of B.C. panel to issue a second disbarment decision this week and order him to pay more than $6,700 in costs.
The disciplinary panel found Weiser's behaviour 'illustrated culpable neglect for his duties as a lawyer,' the law society said in a statement Wednesday, after the latest ruling was delivered.
Because Weiser was already disbarred once before and has not been reinstated by the regulator, he is considered a former member of the law society. But that doesn't protect him from further professional repercussions, according to the tribunal's decision.
'Discipline over former members is an important part of maintaining the public's confidence in the legal profession,' the decision says.
'Former members cannot avoid discipline by simply ceasing their membership and avoiding the consequences of their misconduct.'
The society suspended Weiser multiple times between 2021 and 2023, eventually handing him a three-month suspension for practising while suspended and failing to co-operate with investigators.
In June 2022, he came under investigation for allegedly using a trust account to disguise proceeds he had earned from an unlicensed cannabis business, according to the society.
Then in February 2024, Weiser was suspended for eight months for failing to act with integrity, and acting in multiple conflicts of interest.
Weiser was first disbarred last year after he was found to have committed at least six instances of professional misconduct, including breaching accounting rules, using a trust account for personal financial benefit and making misleading representations about his conduct to the law society.
'In addition to misleading the law society during the investigation, as to conceal the misuse of his trust account, Weiser set out to document a fabricated narrative about legitimate loans in order to prevent the law society learning about or investigating the misconduct,' the professional regulator said in a March 2024 statement.
In its most recent decision, the panel said it was at a loss to explain Weiser's continued failure to adhere to its disciplinary orders. The former lawyer did not participate in the hearing process, neither in person nor in writing.
'There is some indication of mental health concerns, but no evidence submitted to explain the delay,' the decision says.
Weiser began practising law in B.C. in 1984. In 2023, a custodian was appointed by the B.C. Supreme Court to manage what remained of his practice.
