Law Society bars lawyer for using clients’ money to pay gambling debt

The Law Society of B.C. has barred a Vancouver lawyer from practising law after determining he used $400,000 belonging to his clients to settle a personal debt.

Stephen Neil Mansfield was disbarred after a law society panel ruled Oct. 5 that he committed professional misconduct while playing a shell game with divorce settlement awards in 2016. The law society investigation revealed that Mansfield, who practised family law with the Bayshore Law Group, deposited a client’s $200,000 child-support award amount into his own trust account.

Mansfield admitted he intentionally misappropriated

$200,000 from his client, identified in the decision as T.H., in order to “meet a debt.” The law society ruling then said Mansfield persuaded a second client, identified as Y.Z., to settle a matter with his ex-wife. The settlement included a payment of $200,000 to the client’s former spouse. Mansfield used Y.Z.’s money to pay back T.H.

“(Mansfield) admits that he encouraged Y.Z. to propose the settlement and pay the funds into the (Mansfield’s) trust account in order to replace T.H.’s money, as T.H. had been requesting her $200,000 in child support,” the decision said.

Mansfield blamed his actions on a gambling addiction.

The law society panel said that however unfortunate his personal circumstances may be, “a gambling disorder is not a mitigating factor justifying his conduct, nor do they suggest disbarment is not an appropriate sanction.”