Vernon lawyer suspended for numerous professional misconduct

A Vernon lawyer has been suspended for five months by the Law Society of British Columbia for embezzlement of funds and a number of other cases of professional misconduct.

M. Shane Dugas admitted the misconduct and the company announced that his suspension began on June 1.

According to a press release on the company’s website, Dugas “admitted to a wide range of misconduct, including embezzling or improperly handling funds by depositing money into his personal account rather than a trust account, failing to maintain proper accounting records, failing to correct and report trust deficiencies, filing false trust reports, retaining funds in his trust account that were not related to legal services, and failing to comply with trust terms.”

From 2014 to 2022, Dugas also failed to timely file and remit GST, PST and payroll withholdings.

According to a plea agreement, between March 2019 and May 2020, Dugas used his trust account to receive and disburse $230,000 not directly related to legal services for a client, despite knowing the client was being pursued by unpaid creditors. He did something similar between May 2017 and July 2020, when he received and disbursed $1.35 million in funds not intended for legal services, despite knowing his client’s bank accounts were inaccessible due to foreclosure proceedings.

The company found that Dugas’ misconduct was due to “gross negligence.”

Dugas has been referred to the Society’s Practice Standards Committee. If he resumes practice, he will be permitted to maintain only one trust account with an approved second signatory who is a practicing attorney.

In adopting the consent agreement, the Bar considered Dugas’s past professional conduct, which includes a review of his 2013 conduct for withdrawing trust funds for attorney fees prior to billing.

Dugas became a member of the Law Society in 2008 and has since worked at two small firms in Vernon, including his own firm, Dugas Law, which he opened in 2011. He practices primarily in the areas of administrative law and civil litigation.

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