Law Society finds former Kamloops lawyer committed professional misconduct

KAMLOOPS —  The Law Society of B.C. has found a former Kamloops lawyer responsible of misappropriating thousands of dollars from her clients, attempting to mislead a Law Society compliance audit and failing to comply with various accounting obligations.

Seanna Michelle McKinley practiced as a lawyer until she was suspended on April 11, 2016. The Law Society issued three different citations to get in contact with Mckinley in 2018 in order to proceed with a disciplinary hearing.

Despite not being present in person or by legal counsel, the Hearing panel found Mckinley deemed to admit to the truth of the facts attached to her Hearing panel decision published on June 12.

McKinley is accused of misappropriating $49,000 of $98,000 she received in trust from one of her client’s in 2014. McKinley was hired by this client to assist in a family law and estate matter.

When the Law Society notified her they would be conducting a compliance audit, Mckinley attempted to mislead the society and delay the audit by providing false and misleading information surrounding receipt information and provided a redacted client ledger, according to the citation.

McKinley was also found to have misappropriated a total of $334,593.77 from her pooled trust account by withdrawing funds on more than 500 different occasions.

The former lawyer was also found to have failed to comply with various accounting obligations by making improper withdrawals by way of transfers, internet transfers and failing to maintain proper client ledgers for more than a year.

For each allegation the Law Society established Mckinley committed professional misconduct with respect to the four allegations.

To read the full decision go here.

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