The B.C. Law Society has disbarred a Smithers lawyer after finding she submitted false invoices for legal aid.
A Law Society hearing panel found that between April 2007 and November 2008, Laurel Elizabeth Hudson (Tanner) submitted invoices to the Legal Services Society, which administers legal aid, with inflated hours for time spent on cases.
The panel found Hudson did so to recover time spent by legal assistants, which is not permitted by the LSS. According to a hearing report issued Tuesday, Hudson thought the measure "unfair" and felt "justified in doing so."
Hudson "chose to 'beg for forgiveness' if caught, rather than 'ask for permission.' She did not discuss the issue with LSS at any time before creating the bills because she had good reason to believe that the LSS would not accept her arguments."
Provincial government funding of legal aid has been "sadly inadequate," the panel commented but added it makes Hudson's actions "so egregious."
"She falsified her accounts to LSS in a way that allowed her to unilaterally accept more of this sparse resource than she was entitled to," the panel said. "And while she justified to herself that, in doing so, she was helping more people, the fact is she was doing so by helping herself."
Hudson received thousands of dollars through falsified billings and uncovering the false accounts "took resources away from LSS clients or potential clients who could have benefitted from those resources."
She had been practising for about seven years when she began submitting the false invoices. "Although not a senior lawyer, she was not inexperienced or new to the profession," the panel said.
Hudson has since taken full responsibility for her conduct, acknowledging that her "moral compass was off," the panel noted, but concluded only disbarment was appropriate.
"Any other sanction would compromise the public confidence in the profession's integrity and suggest that the legal profession does not take dishonesty committed by lawyers seriously," the panel said.
Hudson was also ordered to pay the $13,860 cost of the hearing by the end of September. She has not paid any restitution to the LSS because of her ongoing financial state, according to the report.
Hudson is on a leave of absence from practicing for medical reasons but is now well enough to return to work, according to the report.
A two-day hearing was held in November after a citation was issued in July 2012.
