Surrey lawyer James William Lees receives practice restriction for professional misconduct

Surrey lawyer James William Lees has admitted to professional misconduct and agreed to a limitation on his practice. Specifically, Lees cannot change his practice status from non-practicing to practicing, unless he is employed as Crown Counsel with the BC Prosecution Service or otherwise only with the permission of the Law Society.

Lees admitted that while working full time for the BC Prosecution Service, he billed unreasonably for additional work as an agent for the federal prosecution service. He openly wore two hats for years at Surrey Provincial Court: he was a full-time provincial Crown prosecutor, while also working as a federal agent dealing with federal prosecution files. He employed billing practices that, while consistent with the direction he was given in the late 1990s and early 2000s, became untenable when the volume of his federal agency work increased substantially.

In accepting the consent agreement, the Chair of the Discipline Committee considered an agreed statement of facts, a letter from Lees containing his admission and a summary of the circumstances, including that Lees was not alerted to any concerns or issues until 2021 and his reputation as a hard-working and respected prosecutor.

For more information, read the consent agreement summary.