Not The Worst

The Manitoba Law Society Discipline Hearing Panel has ordered a 60-day suspension and reprimand of an attorney admitted in 2017

Mr. Batish behaviour, while not the worst behaviour one could imagine does not demonstrate to the public nor to the references he provided, that he was upholding the requirements of honesty and integrity which are hallmarks of legal profession. While in many respects similar to the facts in Badmus, Mr. Batish not only appears to have attempted to evade taxes for both himself and the client, he attempted to mislead the Law Society with respect to deposits made and not made into trust, and he compounded his errors by including his client in those breaches of integrity when he asked the client to sign backdated documents and an acknowledgement that he knew to be false. These are very serious infractions in which he involved his client in trying to mislead. It goes to the core of the role of a lawyer in society, not just on the impact to a single individual.

(Mike Frisch)