Law360 Canada ( September 8, 2021, 5:43 AM EDT) -- Appeal by the lawyer from a finding of misconduct. Cross-appeal by the Law Society of British Columbia (“Law Society”) from the Panel’s dismissal of the allegation that the lawyer engaged in sharp practice. The Panel found the appellant committed professional misconduct by failing to conduct himself in a manner characterized by courtesy and good faith by obtaining a committeeship order for his clients’ mother without notice to the mother’s counsel. The Panel concluded, however, that his conduct did not constitute sharp practice. The evidence was not controversial, and the lawyer accepted as true most of the facts set out in the notice to admit. The Panel found that the lawyer never considered the mother’s counsel to be acting as counsel for the mother on the basis that she had no capacity to retain counsel. The Panel accepted counsel’s assertion that she was unaware of the requisition scheduling the hearing of the committeeship application. The appellant did not advise the court at the hearing of the application that the mother’s counsel asked the appellant to provide written confirmation of his acknowledgement and agreement not to take any steps without informing her. The Panel concluded that the appellant’s dealings with the mother’s counsel concerning the scheduling of the hearing of the committeeship application amounted to conduct that was a marked departure from that expected by the Law Society and that expected of lawyers. The Panel noted that the finding of sharp practice was dependent upon a conclusion that there was a deliberate element to the conduct. Observing that there was no direct evidence that the appellant did not honestly believe that his mistaken understanding of the law regarding capacity was correct, the Panel was unable to conclude that he deliberately intended to circumvent the mother’s counsel. The Panel accepted that he was proceeding expeditiously as instructed by his clients and that he was acting under an erroneous view of the law concerning the role of the mother’s counsel in the proceeding....