News Release
August 13, 2007

VANCOUVER — Pursuant to its statutory duty to govern BC’s legal profession in the public interest, the Law Society of BC has disciplined the following lawyers (the lawyer’s year of call to the BC Bar appears in parentheses). Full hearing reports are posted on the Law Society’s website at lawsociety.bc.ca.

Raymond William Barton (1983, non-practising January 4, 2004, ceased membership January 1, 2006), of Quesnel, BC, was found guilty of unauthorized practice for making various representations and financial dealings for clients while a non-practising member of the Law Society. The panel also found that Mr. Barton’s actions were not, in all the circumstances, professional misconduct.

Raghbir Singh Basi (1989, resigned May 31, 2006) of Victoria, BC, admitted professional misconduct in allowing a client’s company to be struck from the Corporate Registry, and in failing to respond promptly to a client’s request for its corporate records. The panel also found Mr. Basi guilty of professional misconduct for failing to respond to Law Society correspondence, and suspended him for 18 months. The panel ordered Mr. Basi to respond to the Law Society’s outstanding correspondence, to support any application for reinstatement with appropriate medical evidence of his psychological stability, and to pay costs of $5,771.

James Douglas Hall (1994, suspended September 6 and November 8, 2005, resigned November 24, 2005, disbarred May 28, 2007) of Victoria, BC, was found guilty of professional misconduct for repeatedly failing to respond to Law Society requests for information, and for his indifference and contempt regarding significant Law Society matters. The panel ordered that Mr. Hall be disbarred and pay costs of $17,181. James Douglas Hall should not be confused with James (Jamie) A. Hall of Reed Pope LLP in Victoria.

Douglas Warren Welder (1981) of Kelowna, BC, was found guilty of professional misconduct in 2005 and suspended for one year for repeated failures to pay GST, PST and source deductions. In January 2007 a Bencher review reprimanded Mr. Welder, reduced his suspension to three months and ordered him to pay costs of $2,450. The review panel also ordered Mr. Welder to provide monthly evidence of payment of GST, PST and employee source deductions, together with whatever information the Discipline Committee may require to ensure that his continued legal practice poses no danger to the public interest, as conditions for his return to practice.

Michael Zsolt Galambos (1991) of Vancouver, BC, was found guilty of professional misconduct, suspended for 30 days and ordered to pay costs of $3,000 for misleading the court regarding service of court documents.

Richard Craig Nielsen (2001) of Vancouver, BC, admitted professional misconduct in altering his client’s affidavit after it was sworn, in submitting the altered affidavit for filing in court as though it were genuine when he knew it was not, and in submitting a consent order for filing in court, knowing his client had not consented to the order. Accepting Mr. Nielsen’s admission and proposed penalty, the panel reprimanded him and ordered that he pay a fine of $10,000 and costs of $5,000.

The Law Society of BC is the governing body of the legal profession in B.C. Under the provisions of the Legal Profession Act, the Law Society is responsible for the licensing, professional conduct and discipline of the more than 10,000 lawyers in B.C. For more information on the regulation and discipline of lawyers see the Conduct and Discipline section of the Law Society's website.

Law Society of BC media contact:
Brad Daisley, Public Affairs Manager
Office: 604 443-5724 or 1-800-903-5300 toll-free in BC
Email: bdaisley@lsbc.org
www.lawsociety.bc.ca