Vancouver, October 17, 2018 – A hearing panel of the Law Society has accepted a consent proposal ordering the disbarment of former Vancouver lawyer Steven Mansfield for professional misconduct in relation to misappropriating funds held in his trust account.
In October 2016 Mansfield was retained by a client who provided him a $5,000 retainer, which Mansfield misappropriated by placing it in his general account rather than his trust account. In November 2016 Mansfield received a $200,000 child-support payment on behalf of a second client and on the same day issued a cheque in that amount payable to a third party not related to the matter. Later that same month Mansfield received $200,000 on behalf of the first client, and he misappropriated most of that money by issuing two cheques totalling $27,500 payable to his law firm, and another cheque for $170,000, payable to the second client.
At the time that the hearing panel received the consent proposal, Mansfield had been a former member and ceased practising law. The order for disbarment takes effect immediately, which means that he may not practise law.
The hearing panel’s written reasons are available here.
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For further information contact:
David Jordan
Communications Officer
604.443.5708
djordan@lsbc.org