Former Victoria firm DGW Law Corporation fined $50,000 for professional misconduct

Former Victoria law firm DGW Law Corporation has agreed to pay a $50,000 fine for professional misconduct.

DGW Law Corporation admitted in a consent agreement that between 2020 and 2022, it failed to adequately supervise and instruct staff to comply with various trust accounting rules. In several instances, trust funds were improperly withdrawn from trust when the law firm had no entitlement to the funds, resulting in cumulative trust shortages. In other instances, trust funds were improperly deposited into the law firm’s general account. In addition, the law firm withdrew trust funds by electronic funds transfers that were not compliant with the rules, failed to maintain its books and records in an accurate and reliable manner, failed to complete required monthly trust reconciliations, and failed to ensure that a trust report submitted in 2022 was accurate.

The consent agreement resolves complaints in relation to former DGW Law Corporation partners Christopher G. Devlin, John W. Gailus, and Timothy A. Watson.

In accepting the consent agreement, the Chair of the Discipline Committee considered an Agreed Statement of Facts and a letter from the law firm containing its admissions. It also considered several mitigating factors, including that the law firm’s accounting failures largely resulted from a change in its accounting software, the law firm took steps to improve its accounting practices, and no clients suffered any financial loss.

For more information, read the consent agreement summary.