Family law attorney punished seventh time by law society

A family law lawyer in Winnipeg, already disciplined by the law society six times, has been suspended for eight months after pleading guilty to professional misconduct.

The Law Society of Manitoba has ordered 65-year-old Douglas Arthur Mayer to pay $7,000 in costs, receive mental health counselling and treatment, and, if after the suspension he decides to return to his legal practice, he will have to be supervised.

“The society is not seeking disbarment or a finding of ungovernability,” the 17-page decision said.

“Nonetheless, we find that Mr. Mayer’s conduct is approaching such findings, especially given the nature and extent of the counts in the citation… this may essentially be a form of last chance as argued by counsel for the society.”

The law society says it took into account Mayer’s early guilty plea and his offer to apologize to the complainants.

The lawyer, who has been practising since 1988, was accused of not providing “courteous, thorough, prompt, competent, timely, conscientious diligent, efficient and civil” service to five clients.

He failed to provide updates to his clients, deal with matters in a timely manner or respond to communication from opposing lawyers.

A report said Mayer “meets the diagnostic criteria for a mental disorder” and should seek professional help. Mayer told the law society he would seek help and had not been aware of his mental health condition.

The law society first issued a formal caution against Mayer in 1997, for not responding to a letter from an opposing lawyer. Throughout the years, Mayer continued to be disciplined, fined, and ordered to pay costs, but it wasn’t until 2020 that he was suspended for the first time. That year, he received two 30-day suspensions for professional misconduct.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca