Former lawyer Rene Joan Gantzert receives second disbarment

Former lawyer Rene Joan Gantzert has been disbarred in BC for a second time for professional misconduct. The hearing panel also ordered Gantzert to pay costs of $4,000.

The hearing panel found that in 2017 to 2020, Gantzert knowingly misappropriated $18,200 in client trust funds in a personal injury case and failed to provide the quality of service required of a competent lawyer.

In their decision to disbar Gantzert, the panel considered the serious nature of the conduct, noting that absent exceptional circumstances, disbarment is the presumptive sanction for taking trust funds and no exceptional circumstances were present in this case. The panel also considered  Gantzert’s professional conduct record, which includes a previous disbarment in 2023 for misappropriating more than $62,000 in client trust funds and failing to cooperate with the Law Society’s investigation into his misconduct.

The full decision is available on the Tribunal’s website.