David Masao Saito

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

Agreed Statement of Facts concerning David Masao Saito, a BC lawyer who, over 2007-2012, submitted false and inflated medical expense claims, duplicate claims, and false automobile/mileage claims to his firm, improperly caused the firm to pay family estate disbursements, reimbursed himself improperly from trust and general accounts, and deposited personal funds in a pooled trust account. He admitted seven counts of professional misconduct under s.38(4) of the Legal Profession Act. Although the conduct involved false claims and use of the phrase 'ought to have known,' the document contains no express finding of dishonesty. The Respondent undertook for five years not to apply for reinstatement, and arranged for the firm to be made whole for its losses. No fine or costs figures are stated in this document.

Duties found breached:

• No improper use of client money
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Repeated misconduct over multiple years (2007-2012)
• Significant amounts involved across numerous false and duplicate claims
• Misuse of trust funds and firm general account

Mitigating factors:

• Self-reported to the Law Society after being confronted
• Entered into an Agreed Statement of Facts admitting all allegations
• Suffered a heart attack and stroke in 2010
• Firm reimbursed for losses through withheld funds and retained receivables
• Some breaches (Rule 3-52(3)) resulted from genuine ignorance and were corrected when identified