In the aftermath of last week’s money laundering revelations at least one lawyer is calling for the Law Society of B.C. to take much harsher action with lawyers complicit in such behaviour.

After the 2nd phase Peter German report into money laundering raised the possibility lawyers may be willingly or unwittingly helping Acumen Law’s Kyla Lee was asked if that kind of activity is going on.

“Absolutely. I think a lot of the legal profession is concerned about the few bad apples out there who are either willfully blind to the fact that their clients obviously laundered money through them or who are too close to what their clients are doing that they are involved in the work. We have seen some examples of that in some recent high profile Law Society investigations.”

Lee says while the Law Society has some harsh consequences for lawyers crossing the line it is also not doing enough to tackle the issue of lawyer’s trust accounts that may be being used for money laundering.

“I think the Law Society is going to have to develop a framework for its own investigations into money that is coming into lawyer’s trust accounts to ensure that it is not part of money laundering. As well as perhaps developing its own investigative force to deal specifically with that issue.”

The Law Society of B.C. has recently proposed some changes to rules governing lawyer trust accounts as well as guidelines governing private loans.

Lee says the changes are smart.

“A lawyer’s trust account is not meant to operate the same as a bank account. It is supposed to receive funds and hold funds associated with legal services. If it is not being used for legal services it really doesn’t to have to go through a lawyer’s trust account. Not allowing lawyers to use their trust accounts in that way makes sense to me.”

In response the Law Society of B.C. sent in a statement it is in full below.

“The Law Society has safeguards against money laundering in place. Law firms are required to file annual trust reports and every firm is audited at least once every six years – every four years if they provide services in the areas of real estate or wills and estates. Our team of 15 auditors, 4 forensic accountants and two forensic analysts, a former senior RCMP investigator who is a certified fraud examiner and experienced in criminal proceeds of crime investigations, and three discipline counsel who are certified money laundering specialists hold lawyers to account for every dollar going into or out of their trust accounts. If a lawyer is found to have breached our rules, we will investigate and take disciplinary action as is appropriate.”

The Law Society will debate the proposed changes in July.