Gibsons lawyer James Wayne Rowe fined $10,000 for professional misconduct

Gibsons, BC lawyer James Wayne Rowe has agreed to pay a fine of $10,000 after admitting he committed professional misconduct.

In a consent agreement, Rowe admitted that in August 2022, he breached the terms of a court order concerning the distribution of sale proceeds by disbursing funds to certain individuals when he knew or ought to have known that doing so was contrary to the order and/or the Code of Professional Conduct. The court order required Rowe to pay the balance of the sale proceeds to the borrower’s estate or into court; instead, Rowe paid the proceeds to family relations of the borrower.    

In accepting the consent agreement, the Law Society took into consideration an Agreed Statement of Facts, a letter to the Chair of the Discipline Committee and the fact Rowe did not have a prior professional conduct record.

For more information, read the consent agreement summary.