N.B. lawyer`s discipline decided

Migneault will also need to complete, at his own expense, a program of continuing professional development, focusing on ethical issues and law-office management, as determined by the executive director of the law society. The program must be completed before Migneault can continue his practice after the suspension.

When he eventually resumes his practice, he must not have control of any trust fund or trust money related to his practice without written approval from the executive director of the Law Society of Saskatchewan, and subject to any conditions from the executive director. Migneault must also not lend money to any clients.

The full June 29 report by the three-person penalty-hearing committee is posted on the Law Society’s website.

Migneault’s penalty hearing was held May 31 in Regina.

The hearing committee reviewed the details of the formal complaint against Migneault that had previously determined to be well founded, when deciding an appropriate penalty, according to the June 29 report.

However, while it considers the matter “very serious,” it does not believe the case warrants disbarment.

The hearing committee determined a suspension of about two years (from December 2015 to the end of December 2017) to be appropriate. It considers this to be a “significant sanction that strongly denounces the member’s conduct.”

The hearing committee said Migneault must ensure he maintains appropriate boundaries between his personal commitments in his community and his professional obligations when he resumes practice.

The committee said as long as Migneault follows the conditions of his penalty he can resume his practice when his suspension is completed.

In the April 2 signed summary report, the hearing committee indicated Migneault was found guilty of conduct unbecoming a lawyer on a number of counts.

The case relates to Migneault’s involvement with client Allan Moen, for whom he provided legal services. Moen was sentenced to three years for defrauding investors of more than $700,000 after pleading guilty on October 27, 2015.

The April 2 report indicates Migneault was found to have, through negligence and failing to exercise due diligence, facilitated the commission of a fraud, or frauds by Moen. He was also found to have enabled Moen to use his law firm and status as a lawyer to legitimize the fraudulent activities.

Migneault also was found to have involved himself in the investment offerings of his client Moen and affiliated corporations, to the general public when Moen and his affiliated corporations were the subjects of a Cease Trade Order.

The April 2 report indicated the hearing committee determined the formal complaint against Migneault of conduct unbecoming a lawyer to be “well founded” in relation to the above counts.

Migneault was also found to have failed to maintain proper books and records for his legal practice and to have loaned money to clients, among several allegations related to trust accounting rule breaches.

In the May 31 penalty hearing, Kevan Migneault, on his own behalf, sought an “appropriate penalty” of “time served,” indicating the interim suspension of roughly the past 18 months “meets or exceeds the penalty that should have been imposed” had the matter been resolved when the law society first investigated his conduct. He also filed more than 25 letters of support in his submission.

The counsel for the investigation committee recommended disbarment. It cited it deemed that “rehabilitation of the member is problematic.” It indicated Migneault’s facilitation of Moen’s fraudulent activities occurred in the presence of “accumulating red flags” over the course of more than a decade, and yet Migneault continued to do business with Moen. However, the counsel also indicated as mitigating factors Migneault has no prior discipline record, and he was cooperative throughout the proceedings.

Ultimately, the law society’s penalty hearing committee decided an extended suspension of practice was appropriate.

“We have concluded a lengthy suspension would meet the requirements of general deterrence,” the committee said in the report, adding Migneault was “straightforward” in dealing with the hearing committee.

The committee also stated that by extending his suspension until the end of 2017, Migneault’s total period of suspension would work out to about two years, “which we consider to be a significant sanction that strongly denounces the member’s conduct.”

In a separate case, the Law Society of Saskatchewan is now reviewing a complaint of conduct unbecoming a lawyer related to another North Battleford lawyer, Murray Greenwood, who is Migneault’s former law partner. The hearing for this case is set for August 15 in Saskatoon.

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW

by Angela Brown

N.B. lawyer`s discipline decided

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