Summary of Decision on Disciplinary Action
Mark Alan Hopkinson
Delta, BC
Called to the bar: October 22, 2002
Ceased membership for non-payment of fees: January 1, 2020
Hearing date: February 10, 2020
Panel: Dean Lawton, QC (Chair), Lindsay LeBlanc and Lance Ollenberger
Decision issued: November 10, 2020 (2020 LSBC 54)
Counsel: Kathleen Bradley for the Law Society; no one appearing for Mark Alan Hopkinson
BACKGROUND
A hearing panel found Mark Alan Hopkinson committed professional misconduct when he engaged in a pattern of non-communication with a client, failed to provide legal services to the manner required of a competent lawyer, neglected his duty to notify and properly advise a client in connection with his errors, persistently failed to respond to the Law Society and held himself out as entitled to practise law while suspended (2020 LSBC 17).
DECISION ON DISCIPLINARY ACTION
The hearing panel considered the serious nature of Hopkinson’ s repeated and consistent failures to respond to the client and to the Law Society, his previous professional conduct record, the harm to the client caused by his misconduct, the range of sanctions in prior cases and the need for deterrence and to instill public confidence in the integrity of the legal profession.
The panel ordered Hopkinson:
- be suspended for three months, commencing the date he is re-admitted to the Law Society; and
- pay costs of $9,512.75.
2020 LSBC 54 Decision on Disciplinary Action