Jan Parnega-Welch

The appellant lawyer appealed a decision of the Law Society Appeal Panel, which had set aside a Hearing Panel's 18-month suspension and substituted a penalty of licence revocation for professional misconduct.

The Appeal Panel had also overturned the dismissal of two particulars of misconduct, finding the appellant had misled investigators and filed false reports.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the Appeal Panel's decisions on both the penalty and the findings of misconduct were reasonable and entitled to a high degree of deference.

The applicant sought a stay of conduct and reinstatement proceedings before the Law Society Tribunal pending her application for judicial review of several interlocutory rulings.

The court applied the RJR-MacDonald test and found that the applicant failed to establish exceptional circumstances to justify intervening in ongoing administrative proceedings.

The court noted the availability of an adequate alternative remedy through the internal appeal structure and found that the balance of convenience favoured allowing the disciplinary process to proceed in the public interest.

The motion for a stay was dismissed.

The moving party, a disbarred lawyer, brought a motion for a stay of the enforcement of an order made by an Appeal Panel of the Law Society of Upper Canada pending her appeal to the Divisional Court.

The Appeal Panel had ordered her disbarment for professional misconduct involving the misappropriation of client funds.

Applying the RJR MacDonald test, the court found that while there was a serious issue to be tried, the balance of convenience and the need to protect the reputation of the legal profession weighed against granting a stay.

The motion was dismissed.