High ethical standards are a hallmark of the legal profession — and a reason that people place their confidence and trust in lawyers. The Law Society sets standards of professional responsibility for BC lawyers and articled students and upholds those standards through a complaints and discipline process.

Part 3 of the Legal Profession Act and Part 3, Division 1 of the Law Society Rules set out provisions that govern the complaints process. Part 4 of the Act and Part 4 of the Rules set out provisions on the discipline process. The following is a brief overview of the:

Complaints process

The Law Society Professional Conduct Department reviews all complaints about lawyer conduct or competency. The Department includes lawyers and legal assistants. Commercial crime investigators and forensic accountants are also on staff at the Law Society and assist where necessary with the investigation of complaints.

The Law Society requires lawyers to practise law ethically and competently. For example, a lawyer should:

• be honest and courteous;
• keep clients informed, respond promptly to phone calls or letters and work in a timely fashion;
• respect client confidences;
• safeguard client funds and property and account for money entrusted to the lawyer;
• maintain adequate skills to represent clients effectively;
• not act in a conflict of interest (such as improperly acting against a former client or improperly sharing a business interest with a client).

For information on professional standards for lawyers, see Ethics and the Professional Conduct Handbook.

A client who would like to know more about working with a lawyer effectively should also see Working with a Lawyer. For information on avoiding problems or resolving concerns with a lawyer, see Lawyer Conduct & Complaints in the Public section of the site.

A complaint to the Law Society about a lawyer should include the lawyer's name, details of the concern and the complainant's name, address and phone number. If you wish, you can download a complaint form to complete and return to the Professional Conduct Department at:

The Law Society of BC
845 Cambie St.
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6B 4Z9
Tel.: 604 669-2533
Fax: 604 605-5399
Toll free in BC: 1-800-903-5300
TTY: 604 443-5700
Email: professionalconduct@lsbc.org

A professional conduct investigation normally follows these steps.

After receiving the lawyer's response, the staff may request further information from the complainant, the lawyer or anyone else involved. The Law Society's investigation of a complaint is confidential unless and until a discipline citation is issued: At that point, the Discipline Committee has determined that the matter should proceed to a public hearing.

Confidentiality over complaints is necessary to ensure fairness to both the complainant and the lawyer and the integrity of the Law Society's investigation overall. Rule 3-3 does, however, allow the Law Society to confirm the status of an investigation if the matter is already known to the public.

• takes no further action if the complaint is unfounded, cannot be proved or does not show conduct serious enough to warrant further action;
  
  
• in some instances, assists with the resolution or reconciliation of problems between lawyers and clients that do not amount to a conduct concern;
  
  
• refers the matter to the Practice Standards Committee if there are competency concerns. The Practice Standards Committee will decide if the lawyer needs to upgrade skills, make changes to his or her practice or obtain other guidance. (For more information, see Practice Standards);

• refers the matter to the Discipline Committee if there are ethical concerns or breaches of Law Society rules.

Complainants' Review Committee

If a complainant is dissatisfied with a staff decision to take no further action on a complaint he or she may, in some circumstances, request a review before the Complainants' Review Committee (CRC), chaired by a Lay Bencher.

Discipline process

Discipline Committee

The Discipline Committee, composed of Benchers and non-Bencher members, reviews complaints referred by the Professional Conduct Department and the Complainant's Review Committee.

After considering a complaint, the Committee has authority under Rule 4-3 to:

• decide that no further action be taken on the complaint;
• authorize the chair or other Bencher member of the Discipline Committee to send a letter to the lawyer concerning the lawyer’s conduct;
• require the lawyer to attend a meeting with one or more Benchers or lawyers to discuss the conduct of the lawyer;
• require the lawyer to attend a conduct review (by at least one Bencher and another senior practitioner); or
• recommend that a citation be issued against the lawyer, which leads to a formal hearing respecting the lawyer's conduct.

Conduct letter

When the Discipline Committee authorizes a conduct letter, a copy or summary of the letter must be sent to the complainant. A conduct letter does not form part of a lawyer’s professional conduct record and is not admissible in the hearing of a citation. See Rules 4-4 and 4-6.1 of the Law Society Rules.

Conduct meeting

Conduct meetings are held in private and do not form part of a lawyer’s professional conduct record. The purpose of the meeting is to educate the lawyer about the conduct that has resulted in the complaint and to ensure the lawyer has a greater understanding of the consequences of his or her actions. See Rules 4-4 and 4-6.2 of the Law Society Rules.

Conduct reviews

If the Discipline Committee orders a conduct review, the lawyer is required to attend a meeting with a Law Society Bencher and one other senior lawyer to discuss the conduct that led to the complaint. The conduct review process is not a formal hearing. The purpose of the meeting is to ensure the lawyer understands the problems which have arisen as a result of his or her conduct in order to avoid the same or similar circumstances in the future. To achieve this result, the reviewers and the lawyer must be free to exchange views and opinions. Accordingly, to be most effective the review must take place privately. The reviewers do, however, invite the complainant to attend a portion of the review and to provide information about the particular conduct in question.

At the conclusion of a conduct review, the reviewers prepare a report for the Discipline Committee outlining its findings, conclusions and recommendations. The Discipline Committee then has the option of taking no further action, referring the lawyer to the Practice Standards Committee, recommending a citation or rescinding the original decision and substituting another decision. Rules 4-7 to 4-10 of the Law Society Rules describe the conduct review process.

Citations

If the Discipline Committee orders a formal hearing, a citation is issued. The citation lists the charges against the lawyer and is a public document. Citations are unproven allegations that have not yet been the subject of a hearing to determine validity.

Hearings

Law Society discipline hearings are similar to court hearings. Discipline counsel, like a Crown prosecutor, presents evidence to prove the citation. The lawyer who is subject to the citation is also represented by counsel. The hearing panel consists of three Law Society Benchers who act as judges (or, if the lawyer consents, the case can be heard by a single Bencher).

Law Society discipline hearings usually take place at the Law Society's office in Vancouver and are open to the public. This is subject to the hearing panel's jurisdiction to order portions of the hearing be held in camera to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of privileged or confidential client information. For information on upcoming hearings, see Hearings Schedule.

Most discipline cases require two stages of hearing. In the first hearing, the Benchers will hear evidence to help them determine whether the allegations in the citation have been proved. The hearing panel will issue written reasons outlining their findings. If the panel concludes that the citation has been proved, a second hearing will be held to determine the appropriate penalty.

In some cases, the lawyer will admit the allegations in the citation prior to the hearing and consent to a penalty being imposed. If both the Discipline Committee and hearing panel accept this admission under Rule 4-22, the panel will issue written reasons reflecting the facts, the admission and the penalty imposed. Hearing reports are posted on the Law Society website: see Hearing Reports & Admissions.

Penalties

If a hearing panel makes no adverse determination against a lawyer, it will dismiss the citation.

If the panel makes an adverse determination, it must do one or more of the following:

• reprimand the lawyer;
• fine the lawyer an amount not exceeding $20,000;
• impose conditions on the lawyer's practice;
• suspend the lawyer from the practice of law or from practice in one or more fields of law (with or without conditions) for a specified period of time;
• disbar the lawyer.

If an adverse determination is made against an articled student, the panel may do one or more of the following:

• reprimand the articled student;
• fine the articled student an amount not exceeding $2,000;
• Extend the period that the articled student is required to serve under articles;
• set aside the enrolment of the articled student.

In addition, a hearing panel may make any other orders and impose any conditions it considers appropriate.

Appeals

Both the Discipline Committee and the lawyer have the right to apply to the Benchers for a review of a hearing panel's decision. Such reviews are heard by at least seven Benchers. The lawyer also has the right to appeal the verdict, the penalty or both to the BC Court of Appeal.

Frequently asked questions

Click here for a list of frequently asked questions about the discipline hearing process.