What constitutes misappropriation of funds?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Comparelli (Re), 2020 LSBC 2 (CanLII):

In Law Society of BC v. Sahota, 2016 LSBC 29, at paragraphs 60 and 63, a hearing panel provided a helpful overview of what constitutes misappropriation: We begin with an attempt to understand the nature of misappropriation. In the decision of a hearing panel on facts and verdict in the matter of Law Society of BC v. Ali, 2007 LSBC 18, at para. 79, the following appears in the context of describing the meaning of misappropriation: Misappropriation is defined in Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Edition as follows: The unauthorized, improper, or unlawful use of funds or other property for purposes other than that for which intended. Misappropriation of a client’s funds is any unauthorized use of clients [sic] funds entrusted to an attorney, including not only stealing but also unauthorized temporary use for a lawyer’s own purpose, whether or not he derives any personal gain or benefit therefrom ... … Thus, all that is required is for the lawyer to take the money entrusted to him or her knowing that it is the client’s money and that the taking is not authorized.

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