Attorney James Straith of British Columbia, CAN; scammer, repeat offender

The Law Society of British Columbia presented James Leslie Straith with a law license in 1985 after he graduated from the University of British Columbia School of Law.

The British Columbia Law Society Disciplinary Counsel has charged Jimmy with engaging in the following misconduct.

Jimmy’s 1^st bite at the Attorney Misfit Apple Tree

• Engaged in professional misconduct
• Failed to cooperate with ethics investigators (Screw you, said Jimmy!)

As a direct consequence of his misconduct, the cheerleaders for Attorney Misfits sitting on the Disciplinary Board punished Jimmy by gifting him with a complimentary $3,500 fine and assessed costs of $6,172.50.  

Jimmy’s 2^nd bite at the Attorney Misfit Apple Tree

• Agreed to represent several individuals known as the “Lost Canadians” regarding Canadian citizenship law without making reasonable efforts to ascertain the identity of his client or person(s) authorized to instruct him on behalf of his clients
• Attempted to file an application for judicial review in Federal Court on behalf of a client, when you he had not been retained by the client to represent him
• After being told that the client did not wish to be involved in any legal proceedings initiated by the “Lost Canadians” group, failed to advise his client
• Provided untruthful responses to Law Society about role and involvement in attempt to file application for judicial review in Federal Court
• Did not file or attempt to file any proceedings on behalf of client
• Never went to Federal Court Registry to file anything on client’s behalf
• Commingled client funds with personal funds
• Engaged in a conflict of interest involving petition seeking declaration of citizenship
• Improperly accepted joint retainer to act on behalf of two clients without complying the Professional Conduct Handbook rules
• After terminating retainer, continued to office advice to client in relation to matters where his interests conflicted with those of a former client
• Failed to comply with Law Society Rules re: receipt and withdrawal of funds received from or on behalf of client in relation to the “Lost Canadians” matter
• Improperly deposited funds directly into his general account rather than into client trust account
• On eight occasions, withdrew a total of $32,000 without first signing a delivering a bill to his clients
• Failed to maintain accounting and billing records for services provided to a client
• Failed to retain receipts issued to persons providing retainer funds on behalf of a client
• Transferred funds from trust purportedly in payment of fees and disbursements owed to him in an amount greater than the total amount of all bills recorded in his ledger
• Failed to account to client for all funds he received in trust on his behalf in relation to his retainer to assist a client with matters pertaining to the “Lost Canadians” group
• Failed to promptly notify client of his receipt of 15 separate payments totaling $16,454.56 Jimmy received as donations from “Lost Canadians” supporters to fund his retainer
• Provided accounting to client in relation to the funds received by him in trust in the “Lost Canadians” matter that intentionally contained several errors or omissions
• Never accounted to client for the difference of $8,041.79 received in relation to the “Lost Canadians” and the amount he expended on its behalf

All that remains now is to see what if any punishment is meted out to Jimmy by the enablers for Attorney Misfits sitting on the Disciplinary Counsel.

As we speak (ca. February 2020), Jimmy practices with the Straith Law Corporation at 689 Western Acres Road in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.