How has the Law Society of BC dealt with the issue of misrepresentation?

Previous character and prior discipline: In the 1999 case Law Society of BC v. Samuels, 1999 LSBC 36, a finding of professional misconduct was made, and the Respondent was suspended for 90 days. He had misrepresented to the court how recently he had contacted his clients’ mothers. It is important to note that he did this to gain an adjournment. He admitted that he knowingly made the inaccurate representation. The panel said, at page 2, “… it is a cornerstone of our justice system that the court be able to rely on submissions from counsel as fact. For a lawyer to mislead the court is an assault on the integrity of the system and a very serious matter.” The present case is similar in that, as well as the courts, clients and third parties who contract with lawyers ought to able to rely on representations made to them by lawyers. The Respondent failed both his client and the Ministry in this case, and although the 1999 misconduct was 18 years ago measured from today, it was only 11 years prior to the start of his course of misconduct in this case, which began in 2010. The Respondent was subject to a conduct review in 2005, which concluded that he had not provided a full and complete reasoning for his termination of a client retainer and had allowed his client to be misled as to the professional status of his paralegal. These again are both failures of communication and a failure to respect the interests of a client. The panel finds the Respondent’s prior discipline record to be an aggravating factor.