Edmonton lawyer suspended for helping disbarred Shawn Beaver practice law
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A veteran lawyer plans to appeal a one-year suspension from the Law Society of Alberta for his role in helping disgraced and disbarred attorney Shawn Beaver.
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Geoffrey Green, 67, admitted working with Beaver on 55 client files over a three-year period between 2016 and 2019.
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Beaver was suspended in 2015 and disbarred in 2017 after the bar discovered he misused his clients’ trust funds. A judge later determined that he continued to practice law and used a junior attorney as a « false front. »
He was later found in contempt of court and sentenced to one year in prison, although this sentence was later reduced following an appeal.
« Mr. Green’s actions allowed Mr. Beaver to continue to practice law in defiance of LSA enforcement efforts and a court-ordered injunction, » reads the decision of the disciplinary committee. three people from the Bar.
« Mr. Green therefore allowed Mr. Beaver’s contempt of court.
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But, their arrangement continued even after the debt was settled, the decision reads, with Beaver continuing to work for Green and being paid directly into Green’s personal bank account.
The panel noted that although the two began working together before Beaver was suspended, their work continued even after he was suspended and subsequently disbarred.
The committee also found that Green breached solicitor-client privilege when he provided Beaver with his clients’ personal information.
“While it does not appear that any of Mr. Green’s clients were specifically harmed, he put them at risk of harm by allowing a suspended and then disbarred attorney to work on their cases and access their information. confidential, all without their knowledge or consent. .”
Prosecutors had requested a two-year suspension. Green’s attorney, Alain Hepner, pleaded for a fine and a suspension of up to 60 days.
Hepner declined to comment further but said he plans to appeal in hopes of reducing the length of the suspension.
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