Vernon lawyer M. Shane Dugas suspended for five months

Vernon lawyer M. Shane Dugas has received a five-month suspension after admitting to professional misconduct. The suspension will commence on June 1, 2024. He has also been referred to the Practice Standards Committee, and upon his return to practice, will only be permitted to operate a trust account with an approved second signatory who is a practising lawyer.

Dugas admitted that he committed a wide range of misconduct, including by misappropriating or improperly handling funds by depositing money into his personal account instead of a trust account, failing to maintain proper accounting records, failing to correct and report trust shortages, filing incorrect Trust Reports, maintaining funds that were not related to legal services in his trust account, and failing to honour a trust condition. It appeared that Dugas’ misconduct was caused by gross negligence. Additionally, from 2014 to 2022, he failed to file and remit GST, PST, and payroll source deductions in a timely manner.  

In accepting the consent agreement, the Law Society took into consideration his prior professional conduct record, which includes a 2013 conduct review for taking funds from trust for legal fees prior to issuing bills. 

For more information, read the full consent agreement.