A former Victoria lawyer has been disbarred and ordered to pay $49,075 after a Law Society of B.C. tribunal found he misappropriated trust funds, misled clients, acted in a conflict of interest and facilitated a breach of a trust agreement.
The tribunal found Lindsay Adam Christopher Ross showed “serious lapses of responsibility regarding trust accounting processes and lack of respect for lawyers and the court” after it was determined Ross misappropriated $100,000 of his client’s funds and “repeatedly made false and misleading claims” to his clients and members of the society.
The conflict of interest relates to the purchase and sale of a pair of properties on Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni.
Ross had represented his wife, his cousin and his cousin’s husband in buying a property on Sproat Lake in 2003. When they sold it and bought a second property in 2005, the cousin was “misled” about the purchase amount of the second property — as a result contributing more than half the true purchase price.
The tribunal said the conflict of interest continued when the second property was sold in 2012 and Ross “paid the net sales proceeds to a financial institution to pay out his wife’s mortgage and line of credit and to his wife directly.”
His cousin and her spouse “did not receive the sale proceeds to which they were entitled” until they got their own lawyer, in July 2015, to sue Ross’s wife and institute garnishment proceedings.
Ross and his wife “used those monies gained through his misconduct for other projects,” the ruling states.
In another instance, Ross used $100,000 of client funds for 13 months and without paying interest. The client was associated with the cousin, who eventually uncovered the misappropriation.
Ross never acknowledged any wrongdoing, the tribunal determined.
“The Panel has been presented with no evidence of any extraordinary mitigating factors that exist to deviate from the expected consequence of disbarment,” the ruling states.
In addition to disbarment, Ross owes the society $49,075 in legal costs.
In ordering the disbarment, the panel said it “considered the serious nature of Ross’s misconduct and that it was committed for his own personal financial benefit.”
The panel described Ross as a senior lawyer “experienced in complex commercial transactions” and said “he used his expertise and his clients’ trust to mislead them.”
It also took into consideration his professional conduct record, which the panel said shows “serious lapses of responsibility regarding trust accounting processes and lack of respect for lawyers and the court.”
Ross retired on June 5, 2020, shortly before he was suspended from practice on July 13, the society said. On Jan. 1, 2021, he became a former member of the society.
The tribunal opted to pursue its investigation and disbarment even though Ross was no longer a member of the society.
“This is to assure the public and the profession that the consequences of misconduct cannot be avoided simply by resigning from the Law Society,” the tribunal wrote. “It also provides a record in the event that a member applies to renew their membership or to practise law in another jurisdiction.”
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