Lawyer suspended for punching student in groin – Winnipeg Free Press

A Winnipeg lawyer has been suspended from practicing law for six months after admitting to punching a trainee lawyer in the groin.

David Hirsch Davis pleaded guilty to a breach of professional conduct during a hearing before the Law Society of Manitoba on May 29. The lawyer representing Davis had asked for a two-month suspension, while the law society had asked for six months.

The society’s written decision, dated July 9, did not specify when the suspension would begin. Davis is free to choose the timing because he works as a sole practitioner and needs time to settle his clients’ affairs in advance, the decision said.

Following the decision, he will be barred from applying to be a law student supervisor for two years and will be required to continue to receive recommended psychological counseling and treatment. Davis will also be required to pay the society $2,500 for its investigative costs.

“The Panel has serious concerns about the member’s conduct and considers that a suspension is necessary, serving both the objectives of general and specific deterrence,” the document said.

“Students who want to enter this profession must be given a clear message that behavior like that of the member will not be tolerated.”

The decision did not specify when the incident occurred, but it could have happened no later than December 2022. The student was in the middle of his training after starting at Davis in June.

On January 10, 2023, Davis was charged with two counts of professional misconduct, but one count was stayed because he pleaded guilty to the other count.

The decision states that the incident occurred while both men were on the phone with the Federal Court Register about a file that the clerk had helped Davis with to determine if certain documents had been filed. During the call, both men looked at Davis’ computer. Davis confirmed that the material had been filed, and at some point during the call, he turned to the student and struck him.

“The student doubled over in pain, screamed at Mr. Davis and left the office,” the ruling states.

Davis’ lawyer argued that it was “an unfortunate but temporary loss of control.”

The student completed his training at Davis and stayed there for a short time.

Davis, who has been a member of the Bar since 1989, has been disciplined by the Bar four times.

In 2009, he was suspended for six months and ordered to pay $25,000 in legal costs. Davis was found to have paid a referral fee to a non-attorney and billed it to the client, and knowingly arranged for two clients to violate the rules of the Live-In Caregiver Program.

In 2008, Davis was cited and ordered to pay $2,500 in court costs for failing to deposit money into a trust account as soon as possible.