Roy Swartzberg

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

In a Law Society of British Columbia Rule 4-29 resolution, Roy Swartzberg admitted professional misconduct on all 12 allegations in a March 2018 citation. The admitted facts disclosed extensive deception of five clients over several years: fabricating non-existent summary trials, decisions, protection orders, variance orders and court file numbers; falsifying court documents; abandoning litigation while pretending it was advancing; misleading opposing and successor lawyers; making an undisclosed personal loan and cash payments to a vulnerable family-law client without ILA and misrepresenting their source; and accepting ~$10,000 in rings from a will/POA client (whom he named himself executor of) without ILA. On June 5, 2019 the Discipline Committee accepted his admission and a seven-year undertaking not to practise law (deemed to have ceased membership due to disciplinary proceedings under Rule 4-29(5)). No fine or costs were recorded. He had no prior conduct record and provided a clinical psychologist's letter.

Duties found breached:

• Cease acting on client perjury or disobedience
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Manage conflict arising mid-matter
• No improper benefit, loan or bequest
• No improper use of client money
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Pattern of sustained deception across multiple clients (DD, AB, CJ, ES, CL) over several years
• Fabrication of court orders and false court file numbers
• Exploitation of a vulnerable client (DD, a victim of domestic abuse seeking protection orders for her child)
• Misled fellow lawyers and continued deception even during Law Society investigation/civil claims

Mitigating factors:

• No prior professional conduct record
• Admission of misconduct and undertaking not to practise law
• Letter from the Respondent's clinical psychologist
• Returned the three rings to Client CL