Jonathan Black-Branch

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

Jonathan Black-Branch, an unregistered barrister, faced five charges arising from findings by the Law Society of Manitoba that he misappropriated approximately $600,000 CDN from the University of Manitoba/Desautels Centre while Dean and chair, and from his failure to report the Manitoba disciplinary proceedings and enforcement action to the BSB. Proceeding in his absence, the Tribunal adopted the Manitoba findings under rE169 (Peckitt, Ukiwa, Bibi), found he had not proved them inaccurate, and found all charges proved. The Tribunal expressly found blatant, sustained and deliberate dishonesty. With no exceptional circumstances, the only appropriate sanction was disbarment. Costs of £2,670 were awarded to the BSB and an immediate order made that no practising certificate be issued pending appeal.

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Cooperate openly with regulators

Aggravating factors:

• Sustained conduct over a period of time, not a momentary lapse
• Calculated and sophisticated conduct involving significant planning
• Large sums of money obtained by fraud
• Bullying of staff who queried expense claims

Mitigating factors:

• Respondent likely suffered stress from the proceedings
• References to mental health during Canadian proceedings (though no supporting evidence supplied)