Liam Prakash Kearns

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

Liam P. Kearns, a BC lawyer called in 1992, admitted professional misconduct for leaving at least 17 pre-signed blank trust cheques with a non-lawyer legal assistant between September 2020 and March 2022, a practice adopted due to pandemic-related staffing absences. A compliance audit uncovered the practice. Under a Rule 3-7.1 consent agreement approved May 17, 2023, he consented to a $15,000 fine and undertakings to complete trust-accounting education and workshops. No dishonesty was found.

Duties found breached:

• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Prior professional conduct record including two conduct reviews, one in September 2020 regarding trust accounting issues and one in 2003 regarding breach of an undertaking

Mitigating factors:

• Acknowledged misconduct and expressed remorse
• Sought early resolution through consent agreement process
• No longer pre-signs blank trust cheques
• Community charitable contributions and support of the arts sector
• Volunteered as adjudicator for a law school moot program