Good Day Readers:A few questions caught our attention not covered in Mr. McIntyre's article:
(1) When a client gives a lawyer upfront money then placed in a trust fund, what requirements exist for the attorney to regularly document/report disbursements? Anyone know?
(2) If the ongoing Winnipeg Police investigation results in no charges can the client initiate a private prosecution?
3) Assuming The Law Society of Manitoba is unsuccessful recovinging all or part of the $70,000 in it's civil lawsuit against Mr. MacKinnon what then? Will the shortfall be taken from the Reimbursement Fund increasing the approximately $1,400 annual membership fee?
(4) By the numbers. How often has the Manitoba Court of Appeal reversed decisions made by The Law Society of Manitoba? Has it ever happened?
(5) Why or why would a lawyer make such bad decisions?
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
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LOCAL
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Lawyer gets disbarred for misusing client's $70K
By: Mike McIntyre
April 23, 2011
A veteran Winnipeg lawyer has been disbarred after getting caught misappropriating more than $70,000 in trust funds from a corporate client.
Donald MacKinnon was found guilty of six counts of professional misconduct following a lengthy investigation by the Law Society of Manitoba.
The Manitoba Court of Appeal upheld the verdict in a decision released this week.
The case has been forwarded to Winnipeg police for further investigation, which is ongoing.
"We report all matters where there is possible criminal activity," law society CEO Alan Fineblit told the Free Press. MacKinnon has not repaid any of the missing money, and the law society is in the process of arranging repayment through its reimbursement fund. The law society, the governing body for all Manitoba lawyers, is then expected to pursue civil action against MacKinnon.
He has already been forced to pay more than $34,000 in costs after the law society placed a lien against his home, which was sold last year. Those costs cover the lengthy investigation by the law society, which included a forensic audit of MacKinnon's business.
MacKinnon got his licence to practise law in 1987 and specialized in civil litigation. A complaint was filed against him by a client who had retained his services for an ongoing lawsuit.
Fineblit said the client paid more than $70,000 into a trust fund, which MacKinnon secretly transferred to himself for fees and disbursements without the knowledge or approval of the client.
MacKinnon then denied any wrongdoing when confronted by the client and the law society and was found to have fabricated 14 statements of account.
"There were a number of questionable acts. While each one of them might be explained, the panel was entitled to make findings of credibility adverse to the appellant," the Appeal Court wrote in its decision this week. "They were entitled to consider the cumulative impact of these incidents together as leading to a conclusion of intentional misleading of the client and professional misconduct."
MacKinnon had no prior history of wrongdoing, but Fineblit said the multiple findings of his "dishonesty" by the law society spelled the end of his professional career.
www.mikeoncrime.com
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 23, 2011 Page A16
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