Liam Prakash Kearns

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Liam P. Kearns, called to the bar in 1992 and practising primarily in residential real estate and wills and estates, admitted professional misconduct under Rule 3-7.1 for leaving at least 17 pre-signed blank trust cheques with a non-lawyer (his legal assistant) between September 2020 and March 2022, a practice begun in response to Covid-19 pandemic-related office changes. He consented to a $15,000 fine and undertakings to complete trust accounting education and staff workshops. No dishonesty was found.

Duties found breached:

• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Prior professional conduct record including two conduct reviews, one in September 2020 regarding trust accounting issues and one in 2003 regarding an unintentional breach of undertaking

Mitigating factors:

• Acknowledged misconduct and is remorseful
• Sought early resolution through consent agreement process
• Contributes to community charities and supports the arts sector
• Volunteered as a moot program adjudicator at a law school
• No longer pre-signs blank trust cheques
• No knowledge or reason to suspect other misconduct with the cheques