David Jacob Siebenga

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

David Jacob Siebenga, a BC real estate/conveyancing lawyer, admitted professional misconduct under Rule 4-29 for misappropriating client trust funds (totalling roughly $63,829 across 415 transactions between 2009 and 2013) by reversing stale-dated cheques and withdrawing residual balances for improperly charged fees, creating hundreds of backdated false invoices to conceal the misappropriations and mislead Law Society auditors, and falsely certifying two trust reports (2009 and 2012) that no stale-dated cheques were outstanding. The admissions are framed as conduct he 'knew or ought to have known' was improper; the decision does not contain an express finding of dishonesty. The Discipline Committee accepted his proposal, under which he gave a 15-year undertaking not to practise law and not to seek re-instatement, effectively ending his career. No fine or costs were stated.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• No improper use of client money

Aggravating factors:

• Misconduct occurred over an extended period (approximately 2009 to 2013)
• Large number of instances (415 misappropriation transactions)
• Creation of hundreds of backdated false invoices for the purpose of misleading Law Society auditors
• Misconduct continued after the 2009 compliance audit
• Directed the process of reversing stale-dated cheques

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted misconduct and accepted findings via Rule 4-29 proposal
• Cooperated by acknowledging responsibility for accounting/trust deficiencies
• Had already retired from practice and closed the firm, intending to resign membership