Lawyer disbarred for forging letter
Law Society rules against him after appeal
A Victoria lawyer who was convicted of public mischief and fabricating evidence has been disbarred by the Law Society of B.C. for a second time.
Malcolm Hassan Zoraik ceased practising law in June 2010, after he was given a conditional 18-month jail sentence for forging a letter indicating that the jury process in a trial had been tampered with.
The provincial court judge who presided at his trial ruled that Zoraik had “manufactured a letter which he knew was likely to become evidence before a court, and indeed sought to have a court rely upon that manufactured evidence.”
Zoraik represented a client who lost a 2009 civil trial against the Insurance Corporation of B.C.
Following the trial, a letter was dropped off at the Victoria court registry. The fabricated letter purported to be from the husband of an unidentified juror and it alleged that the juror had been “offered money for her vote in the court.”
According to the Victoria Times Colonist, a surveillance tape showed Zoraik had been in the area where the letter was found.
Soon after his conviction, the Law Society disbarred Zoraik, invoking a provision that allows for a summary disbarment when a lawyer is convicted of an indictable offence. Zoraik challenged the use of the provision to the Court of Appeal, and in 2015 the court referred the matter back to the Law Society for a hearing.
In April, following a twoday hearing in January, the Law Society, citing professional misconduct, again ordered Zoraik’s disbarment.
“Despite his apparently sincere desire to be a better person, the panel placed more significance on the gravity of the misconduct and the importance of maintaining public confidence in the legal profession and the disciplinary process.
“The panel concluded that this kind of offence against the administration of justice requires the most severe sanction,” the Law Society said in a summary of its decision.
He knew (the letter) was likely to become evidence before a court, and indeed sought to have a court rely upon that manufactured evidence.