Paul Otto De Lange

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

Paul Otto de Lange, a BC sole practitioner, admitted professional misconduct under Rule 4-29 in connection with a citation covering failures to make inquiries in 65 TG Group transactions, conflicts of interest, breaches of trust conditions, trust shortages and numerous accounting rule breaches revealed by a forensic audit. He did not misappropriate funds and no dishonesty was found. The Discipline Committee accepted his undertaking not to practise law for 15 years from January 1, 2023, not to apply for re-admission in Canada during that time, and to notify the Law Society before applying elsewhere, with any future reinstatement requiring a mandatory credentials hearing where he bears the onus of proving fitness.

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money
• Prompt accounting and return of money
• Accounting records, reconciliation and reports

Aggravating factors:

• Large volume and value of transactions ($21.7M received, $44.6M into pooled trust account, $7.5M improper withdrawals)
• Conduct spanned multiple years (2015-2020) and involved numerous clients and files

Mitigating factors:

• No misappropriation of client trust funds
• No dishonest conduct
• Personally paid $175,000 into trust to eliminate a trust shortage
• Admitted misconduct and cooperated via Rule 4-29 proposal and Agreed Statement of Facts

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_suspension_months=180"]