Sonia Sukhdeesh Hayer

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

Under a Rule 3-7.1 consent agreement accepted March 5, 2021, family/real estate lawyer Sonia S. Hayer admitted multiple counts of professional misconduct. After becoming the unwitting victim of a fake bank draft scam in 2016, she disbursed trust funds without adequate inquiries, failed to properly verify client ID, and failed to report a $150,000 trust shortage. She also permitted a non-lawyer paralegal to sign trust cheques and use her Juricert digital signature, then made knowingly false statements to the Law Society during its investigation, including altering three pleadings. She admitted her dishonesty. She agreed to a six-month suspension commencing June 1, 2021 and undertook never to work with the paralegal SZ again. No fine or costs were specified.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• No conflict between current clients
• Report serious misconduct of others
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues
• Not misrepresent regulated status

Aggravating factors:

• Made knowingly false or misleading statements to the Law Society during its investigation
• Altered three pleadings and provided them to the Law Society, differing from those filed with the court and provided to opposing counsel
• Maintained untruthful explanations over an extended period

Mitigating factors:

• No prior Professional Conduct Record
• Was the unwitting initial victim of a fake bank draft scam
• Fully covered the trust shortage within seven days by borrowing money
• Reported the fraud to the bank, RCMP and Lawyers' Insurance Fund
• Acknowledged wrongdoing, recognized gravity and expressed sincere remorse
• Tightened office procedures and became more cautious following the incident