Latest news with #professionalMisconduct
CTV News
05-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
B.C. lawyer gets suspension for misconduct in retail cannabis application
A New Westminster lawyer has been suspended two months for professional misconduct that included failing 'to guard against becoming the tool of an unscrupulous client.' Robert L. Dick's suspension began Thursday, according to a news release from the Law Society of B.C. The lawyer proposed a consent agreement to the society, in which he admitted to a variety of misconduct that took place from mid-2018 to November 2021, all of it related to the same client. That client, identified in the document only as 'DC,' was someone Dick had known for roughly two decades. DC was an existing criminal law client of Dick's, and someone who – along with his associate 'GS' – was 'understood by the lawyer to be involved in the illicit cannabis industry.' DC approached Dick about a plan to apply for a retail cannabis licence, and in early summer 2018, the lawyer, DC and GS all met with a consultant to discuss the provincial licensing process, according to the consent agreement. The consultant expressed concern about the would-be applicants' history of involvement – and reported ongoing involvement – in the illegal cannabis market, and explained that such situations are often dealt with using a 'white knight' applicant. 'The lawyer understood that the 'white knight' applicant process involved using a purported applicant to cloak the identity of the true applicant,' the consent agreement reads. DC brought his acquaintance – referred to as 'SB' – into the process to serve as the 'white knight.' SB was the sole director and shareholder of a company called NRC Ltd., which made the application for a licence to operate a non-medical cannabis retail store. The consent agreement indicates Dick believed DC was the 'driving force' behind the venture, providing funding to SB and NRC as a 'silent partner.' 'The lawyer was aware that there would have to be dishonesty involved in preparing and submitting the licensing application to the province in order for the 'white knight' application to succeed,' the document reads. 'The lawyer made no inquiries to determine whether the true sources of funding for the business were being disclosed to the province in the licensing application." Dick represented NRC in negotiating a letter of intent to lease a property in New Westminster and in submitting a business plan to the city. While he took direction from DC when creating those documents, DC's name was not included in either one, according to the consent agreement. Dick also appeared on behalf of NRC at a New Westminster public hearing on rezoning the location where the proposed cannabis store would be located. The document indicates he made no mention of DC in either his oral or written submissions. Ultimately, both the provincial licensing application and the municipal rezoning process were successful. NRC never opened its cannabis store, however, because of a dispute over unpaid rent. When the landlord told Dick he would not be renting to SB and NRC, he asked if the lawyer knew of anyone else who might be interested in leasing the premises. According to the consent agreement, Dick referred the landlord to GS, who by that time was the owner and director of a different company that ran a cannabis store in Vancouver. By making this referral, Dick was acting against the interests of his client NRC. This conflict of interest was one of the instances of misconduct Dick admitted in the consent agreement. He also admitted that he 'failed to be on guard against becoming the tool or dupe of an unscrupulous client or other persons,' failed to 'make reasonable inquiries about the circumstances,' and failed to 'decline to act or continue to act in the matter until there was a reasonable basis for believing that the nature and purpose of the business venture were legitimate.' The law society's discipline committee accepted the consent agreement proposal, noting that Dick had no prior record of professional misconduct, was remorseful and did not gain any personal benefit, including legal fees, through his misconduct.
CTV News
05-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
B.C. lawyer ‘failed to guard against becoming the tool of an unscrupulous client,' gets 2-month suspension
A New Westminster lawyer has been suspended two months for professional misconduct that included failing 'to guard against becoming the tool of an unscrupulous client.' Robert L. Dick's suspension began Thursday, according to a news release from the Law Society of B.C. The lawyer proposed a consent agreement to the society, in which he admitted to a variety of misconduct that took place from mid-2018 to November 2021, all of it related to the same client. That client, identified in the document only as 'DC,' was someone Dick had known for roughly two decades. DC was an existing criminal law client of Dick's, and someone who – along with his associate 'GS' – was 'understood by the lawyer to be involved in the illicit cannabis industry.' DC approached Dick about a plan to apply for a retail cannabis licence, and in early summer 2018, the lawyer, DC and GS all met with a consultant to discuss the provincial licensing process, according to the consent agreement. The consultant expressed concern about the would-be applicants' history of involvement – and reported ongoing involvement – in the illegal cannabis market, and explained that such situations are often dealt with using a 'white knight' applicant. 'The lawyer understood that the 'white knight' applicant process involved using a purported applicant to cloak the identity of the true applicant,' the consent agreement reads. DC brought his acquaintance – referred to as 'SB' – into the process to serve as the 'white knight.' SB was the sole director and shareholder of a company called NRC Ltd., which made the application for a licence to operate a non-medical cannabis retail store. The consent agreement indicates Dick believed DC was the 'driving force' behind the venture, providing funding to SB and NRC as a 'silent partner.' 'The lawyer was aware that there would have to be dishonesty involved in preparing and submitting the licensing application to the province in order for the 'white knight' application to succeed,' the document reads. 'The lawyer made no inquiries to determine whether the true sources of funding for the business were being disclosed to the province in the licensing application." Dick represented NRC in negotiating a letter of intent to lease a property in New Westminster and in submitting a business plan to the city. While he took direction from DC when creating those documents, DC's name was not included in either one, according to the consent agreement. Dick also appeared on behalf of NRC at a New Westminster public hearing on rezoning the location where the proposed cannabis store would be located. The document indicates he made no mention of DC in either his oral or written submissions. Ultimately, both the provincial licensing application and the municipal rezoning process were successful. NRC never opened its cannabis store, however, because of a dispute over unpaid rent. When the landlord told Dick he would not be renting to SB and NRC, he asked if the lawyer knew of anyone else who might be interested in leasing the premises. According to the consent agreement, Dick referred the landlord to GS, who by that time was the owner and director of a different company that ran a cannabis store in Vancouver. By making this referral, Dick was acting against the interests of his client NRC. This conflict of interest was one of the instances of misconduct Dick admitted in the consent agreement. He also admitted that he 'failed to be on guard against becoming the tool or dupe of an unscrupulous client or other persons,' failed to 'make reasonable inquiries about the circumstances,' and failed to 'decline to act or continue to act in the matter until there was a reasonable basis for believing that the nature and purpose of the business venture were legitimate.' The law society's discipline committee accepted the consent agreement proposal, noting that Dick had no prior record of professional misconduct, was remorseful and did not gain any personal benefit, including legal fees, through his misconduct.
Irish Times
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
High Court cancels registration of former deputy state pathogist Dr Khalid Jaber
A former deputy state pathologist found guilty of professional misconduct over his post-mortem examination findings in two criminal cases has had his registration cancelled by the High Court. On Monday, High Court president Mr Justice David Barniville confirmed a decision of the Irish Medical Council (IMC) to impose the most severe sanction and cancel the registration of Dr Khalid Jaber. The judge also referred to 'bizarre communication' indicated in the court papers from Dr Jaber, who now lives in the Middle East. In these papers, the judge said the doctor made it clear he had no intention of participating, 'other than from the sidelines' with grenades to attack the IMC, the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) and former colleagues. Last February, the former deputy state pathologist was found guilty by a Medical Council fitness-to-practise committee of professional misconduct relating to his post-mortem findings in two cases. READ MORE The allegations against Dr Jaber related to post-mortem findings and related evidence that the Saudi-born pathologist gave to two cases before the Central Criminal Court. One of the cases collapsed and a murder conviction was quashed in the other. Both outcomes were due to the pathologist's testimony. The fitness-to-practise committee ruled that certain allegations of both professional misconduct and poor professional performance made against Dr Jaber were proven following a medical inquiry, held over six days between October 2024 and January 2025. Dr Jaber served as deputy state pathologist between 2009 and 2013 when he resigned in controversial circumstances amid reports of significant disagreements with the then chief state pathologist, Prof Marie Cassidy. In the High Court on Monday, Sinead Taaffe, of Fieldfisher solicitors for the Medical Council, said the fitness-to-practise committee was aware that the removal from the register is the most serious sanction. She said it did not consider Dr Jaber as having any insight into his own conduct and regarded himself the victim. The inquiry arose following a complaint to the Medical Council in August 2015. The pathologist was accused of giving evidence in a murder trial that blunt force trauma which caused fractures of the deceased's jaw had contributed to his death. This concerned the trial of Michael Furlong for the murder of his friend, Patrick Connors (37) in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford in April 2011. The committee, the High Court heard, was satisfied there was no pathological evidence to justify such a finding. The trial of Mr Furlong collapsed in 2013 following the dramatic intervention of Prof Cassidy when she notified the DPP of her concerns about Dr Jaber's evidence and the fact that his post-mortem report in the case had not been peer reviewed. The High Court subsequently prohibited the holding of a retrial. Separately, the fitness-to-practise committee found there was no pathological evidence to justify Dr Jaber's finding in a post-mortem report that the death of Francis Greene (48) at Steamboat Quay in Limerick in November 2009 was due to asphyxia and the related evidence he subsequently provided in court. The victim's badly decomposed body had been immersed in water for two months before being discovered. Gardaí believed Mr Greene had been forced into the River Shannon and died by drowning but Dr Jaber's evidence suggested he had been strangled before he ended up in the water. Kevin Coughlan of Avondale Drive, Greystones, Limerick had his conviction for the murder of Mr Greene quashed by the Court of Appeal in June 2015. However, he was subsequently convicted of Mr Greene's manslaughter at a retrial and sentenced to eight years in prison. The fitness-to-practise committee said it was 'totally inappropriate and unjustifiable' for Dr Jaber to have made such 'a definitive and unequivocal' finding about the cause of death in 'the complete absence' of any supporting evidence. It also ruled that he had failed to demonstrate he appreciated the fundamental difference between bite marks and tooth indentations as well as incorrectly equating hanging with strangulation in his evidence. Costs were awarded to the IMC.
Irish Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Suspended solicitor's appeal over professional misconduct finding to be heard in July
A date has been fixed next month for an appeal by suspended solicitor Declan O'Callaghan over findings of professional misconduct in connection with his handling of a land deal in Co Mayo. On Friday, the president of the High Court, Mr Justice David Barniville, set a provisional hearing date of July 23rd for the appeal. Barrister Michael Mullooly, for Mr O'Callaghan, said he expected it to run for two days and Mr O'Callaghan would be among his side's witnesses. Barrister Ruadhán Ó Ciaráin, for Nirvanna, the concrete products manufacturer that brought the complaint against Mr O'Callaghan over the 2007 land deal to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, said it is expected to call two witnesses at most. READ MORE Last month, Mr Justice Barniville rejected a challenge by Mr O'Callaghan over the procedures adopted by the tribunal in reaching its findings last year of professional misconduct over the 2007 deal. On Friday, he made an order requiring Mr O'Callaghan to pay Nirvanna's costs in opposing that application. The rejection of Mr O'Callaghan's judicial review-type challenge cleared the way for the hearing of his full appeal. If he loses that appeal, the High Court will then consider whether or not to grant an application by the Law Society to strike him off. The society has agreed with the tribunal recommendation that Mr O'Callaghan be struck off, but the final decision on whether or not to grant a strike-off order must be made by the High Court president. The three-member tribunal last summer found Mr O'Callaghan guilty of four counts of professional misconduct over his handling of the 2007 land deal involving Nirvanna, a company of Co Mayo businessman Tom Fleming. [ Declan O'Callaghan: No end in sight as saga of suspended solicitor continues Opens in new window ] Now aged 80, Mr Fleming claimed Nirvanna never received €250,000 for selling the land to a now-deceased businessman. Mr O'Callaghan denied the sum was owed, and disputed the transaction was for 'sale' of the lands. The tribunal upheld the Nirvanna complaint, finding professional misconduct on grounds Mr O'Callaghan breached his duty of care to the company, provided inadequate professional services, and purported to act for vendor and purchaser in a transaction where there was 'a clear conflict of interest'. In recommending strike-off, it had regard to two findings of professional misconduct previously made by it in 1990 and 2019 against Mr O'Callaghan. He has been suspended as a solicitor since 2018 arising from a separate Law Society investigation into matters at his now-defunct practice Kilrane O'Callaghan & Co, which was based in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon. The suspension was imposed pending a tribunal hearing of the society's application for an inquiry into matters arising from its investigation. Concerns raised in an independent solicitor's report for that investigation included that Mr O'Callaghan withdrew substantial fees from the estate of a bereaved child.
Daily Mail
30-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Doctor's pitiful apology after he 'tweaked' a patient's nipples and boasted he could give her the 'best orgasm of your life'
A doctor has been found guilty of professional misconduct after allegedly playing with a young female patient's nipples before trying to apologise by purchasing her groceries. NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard on Wednesday that a woman, referred to as Patient A, visited Moruya Medical Centre in January 2020, after injuring her knee. The woman, who was 31 at the time, was treated by Dr Sharwan Narayan, now 45, who she described as a 'nice, knowledgeable doctor'. But over the course of her next few appointments, the tribunal noted the doctor's conduct became inappropriate. During one visit, the date of which was unclear, Patient A told the tribunal she was 'a bit shocked' when Dr Narayan allegedly asked her to hug him. On February 18, during a massage of Patient A's leg, the tribunal heard Dr Narayan massaged further up so his hands were 'quite close to her pubic area'. 'Patient A said she didn't say anything, she shut down. She had learned to disassociate during trauma she had suffered as a child,' the tribunal said. Dr Narayan said he would perform a skin check after removing a mole the week before and, when Patient A said she wasn't wearing a bra, he reportedly told her: 'Just pull it down, it's fine.' Patient A alleged Dr Narayan started cupping her breasts: 'He tweaked or played with her nipples even though she had not said anything about having any issue,' the tribunal heard. 'He said "oh they're not hard", referring to her nipples. Patient A understood him to mean that she was not aroused.' The young woman allegedly froze and made a non-committal response while 'just waiting for it to be over'. Patient A attended three more appointments at the centre after experiencing deep vein thrombosis. During a visit on March 13, the tribunal heard the doctor asked the woman about her sex life during a knee massage, including if her partner was able to give her orgasms. When Dr Narayan finished, the tribunal heard he kept talking about 'sexual stuff' and said he'd taught a lesbian couple how to give each other the best orgasms. 'Then he said "I can give you the best orgasm of your life". I was like "ok". He again asked me for a hug and I just stood there. I then left,' Patient A told the tribunal. He had never said anything sexual before, although she thought he had touched her inappropriately, the tribunal heard. The tribunal heard the doctor phoned the young woman when she did not turn up to a pre-booked appointment for a follow up scan. He said he was sorry if he had made her uncomfortable at the last appointment and asked her to come to Batemans Bay Hospital for a free DVT scan. At the hospital, Dr Narayan gave her a big ALDI shopping bag and allegedly said: 'This is for you. l'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable or I thought I may have made you feel uncomfortable so this is for you.' The tribunal heard there was a big tub of ice cream, kombucha, Dove moisturiser and chocolates in the bag which Patient A estimated would have cost more than $50. When she left, the tribunal noted 'she felt really uncomfortable and felt as if he was trying to bribe her'. On one occasion after the hospital trip, she reportedly called Dr Narayan to obtain a prescription but did not return to the centre until after he had left the practice. Dr Narayan denied the allegations made by Patient A during the tribunal. His legal team was contacted by Daily Mail Australia for comment. In its decision, the tribunal said the doctor's conduct was of a 'very serious nature and demonstrates a significant departure from accepted standards'. 'Patient A was a vulnerable patient. To receive healthcare, she needed to allow Dr Narayan to conduct physical examinations,' the decision said. 'A breach of sexual boundaries in the doctor-patient relationship exploits this power imbalance.' Dr Narayan was found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and of professional misconduct. The tribunal will determine protective orders following a further Stage 2 hearing. Dr Narayan worked in medical imaging for 18 years before earning a Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Notre Dame in 2015. He was registered in 2016 as a GP and worked as a GP registrar at the Moruya Medical Centre from February 2019 to August 2020. In June 2023, Dr Narayan's license as a medical practitioner was suspended for three months. He had been found guilty by NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct towards a different patient and two colleagues. When he returned to work, conditions were imposed which included that he practise under supervision, undergo mentoring and attend for treatment with a psychologist. has reported that he is currently working as a general practitioner on Norfolk Island, with conditions attached to his registration.
