Former Kamloops lawyer Nickolaus Harold MacDonald Weiser disbarred

Former Kamloops lawyer Nickolaus Harold MacDonald Weiser has been disbarred in British Columbia after being found ungovernable by a Law Society Tribunal hearing panel.

The hearing panel found that Weiser committed professional misconduct in relation to all six allegations in the citation, including improper use of his trust account for personal financial benefit and in the absence of substantial legal services, breaches of trust accounting rules, acting in multiple conflicts of interest, making false or misleading representations to the Law Society, and failing to cooperate with the Law Society throughout the disciplinary process. In addition to misleading the Law Society during the investigation, as to conceal the misuse of his trust account, Weiser set out to document a fabricated narrative about legitimate loans in order to prevent the Law Society learning about or investigating the misconduct.

In disbarring Weiser, the hearing panel considered his lengthy professional conduct record that demonstrated a consistent and repetitive failure to respond to Law Society communications and a pattern of disregarding mandatory conflict rules. From 2021 to 2022 Weiser was administratively suspended several times and in July 2023, a hearing panel ordered a three-month suspension for practising while suspended and failing to cooperate with another Law Society investigation.

In making their decision, the hearing panel found that Weiser showed a continuous pattern of disregard of his professional obligations to the public and the legal profession. He is also ordered to pay $16,668 in costs.

For more information, see the hearing panel’s decision on disciplinary action.