West Vancouver lawyer Julian Reginald Porritt has received a two-month suspension for professional misconduct.
In a joint submission to a Law Society Tribunal hearing panel, Porritt admitted that, in relation to two files, he used or permitted the use of his firm’s trust account to receive and disburse funds while failing to provide legal services directly related to the transactions, failing to make reasonable inquiries about the circumstances, an make a record of the results of any inquiries.
The misconduct involves receiving approximately $4.2 million and disbursing approximately $3.7 million across 22 transactions.
In accepting the joint submission, the hearing panel took into consideration the seriousness of the misconduct, Porritt’s acknowledgement of it, the need to support public confidence in the profession, the disciplinary process, and the range of disciplinary actions imposed in comparable past cases. In addition to the two-month suspension, Porritt has also been ordered to pay $3,000 in costs.
See the decision of the hearing panel.
