A Winnipeg lawyer will be suspended from practising for six months after admitting to punching an articling student in the groin.
David Hirsch Davis pleaded guilty to one charge of professional misconduct during a Law Society of Manitoba hearing on May 29. The lawyer representing Davis had sought a two-month suspension, while the society’s had asked for six months.
The society’s written decision, dated July 9, did not say when the suspension will begin. Davis is allowed to choose the timing because he is a lone practitioner and needs time to arrange the affairs of his clients beforehand, the ruling said.
The Manitoba Law Courts building in Winnipeg (John Woods / The Canadian Press files)
He is prohibited from applying to supervise law students for two years after the decision and must continue to receive mental health counselling and treatment as recommended. Davis also must pay the society $2,500 for its investigative costs.
“The panel has grave concerns about conduct of the member and feels that a suspension that meets the goal of general deterrence, and specific deterrence, is required,” the document said.
“A strong message needs to be sent to students seeking to join the profession that conduct of the type the member engaged in will not be tolerated.”
The decision did not state when the incident happened, but the latest it could have occurred is December 2022. The student was midway through his articling work after starting with Davis in June.
Davis was charged with two counts of professional misconduct on Jan. 10, 2023, but one count was stayed when he pleaded guilty to the other charge.
The decision said the incident happened when both men were on a phone call with the federal court registry regarding a file the articling student had been helping Davis with to determine whether particular documents had been filed. They were both looking at Davis’s computer during the call. Davis confirmed the material had been filed, and at some point during the call, he turned to the student and punched him.
“The student doubled over in pain, shouted at Mr. Davis and left the office,” the ruling states.
Davis’s lawyer argued it was “an unfortunate but momentary lapse of control.”
The student completed his articling with Davis and continued there for a short time afterward.
Davis, who has been a member of the law society since 1989, has been disciplined by the society four times.
In 2009, he was suspended for six months and ordered to pay $25,000 in costs. Davis was found to have paid a referral fee to a non-lawyer and charged the client for it, and to have knowingly had two clients violate rules of the live-in caregiver program.
In 2008, Davis was reprimanded and ordered to pay $2,500 in costs for failing to deposit funds into a trust account as soon as reasonably possible.
In 2001, he was suspended for 45 days and ordered to pay $1,000 in costs after admitting to sexually harassing a client. The woman was applying for refugee status, and part of the basis for her application was that a former employer in her country of origin had sexually harassed her.
In this month’s ruling, the society said its lawyer argued Davis’s discipline history was somewhat dated but showed a pattern of problematic behaviour that might have warranted more serious discipline, including disbarment.
The society cited his remorse as the reason the discipline wasn’t more severe. The society noted the incident happened even though Davis has been receiving treatment to address anger issues for more than a decade.
Davis had his lawyer read a statement at the May hearing because he was “too emotional,” the decision states. He apologized in the statement and said his “actions would never be repeated.”
adam.treusch@freepress.mb.ca