David Michael Simon

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

David Michael Simon, a sole practitioner called in BC in 1987, admitted professional misconduct under a Rule 4-29 proposal relating to numerous trust accounting failures between January 2018 and September 2019, including improper withdrawals/misappropriation of trust funds creating shortages across four schedules (totaling over $1.3 million), failure to eliminate shortages, failure to report shortages over $2,500 to the Executive Director, failure to prepare timely monthly trust reconciliations, submitting a false/misleading 2019 Trust Report, and breaching client identification/verification rules. No client complained or lost money. The Discipline Committee accepted his undertaking not to practise law for 12 years, treating him as having ceased membership due to disciplinary proceedings, with any future reinstatement requiring a mandatory credentials hearing. The decision did not make an express finding of dishonesty, and no fine or costs were stated.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No improper use of client money
• Accounting records, reconciliation and reports
• Self-report to the regulator
• Not misrepresent regulated status

Aggravating factors:

• Large aggregate value of trust shortages (over $1.3 million across schedules)
• Numerous instances over an extended period (2018-2019)
• False or misleading statements certified as true in 2019 Trust Report
• Failure to report shortages 'mainly out of embarrassment'

Mitigating factors:

• No client filed a complaint
• No client was found to have lost money
• Combined trust account balances generally held sufficient funds cumulatively for clients
• Admission of misconduct and cooperation via Rule 4-29 proposal and Agreed Statement of Facts
• Respondent was a sole practitioner with no office staff
• Unaware of identification requirements for out-of-country clients

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_suspension_months=144"]