Client Protection Fund Files Lawsuit To Recover $285K That It Shelled Out To Reimburse Losses Suffered By Fleeced Former Clients Of Disbarred Lawyer

In Edmonton, Alberta, the Edmonton Sun reports:

• The Law Society of Alberta is suing disbarred lawyer Shawn Beaver to recover money he lost through misuse of client trust accounts.
  
  The society is seeking a judgement to compel Beaver to pay over $400,000 to cover trust safety insurance payments made to Beaver's former clients and debt accrued through his business.
  
  Beaver was stripped of his licence to practise law in February after a disciplinary hearing found he had misappropriated money that clients had entrusted to him.
  
  The Law Society of Alberta — the professional association that disbarred Beaver — operates an insurance policy that paid money to Beaver's former clients.(1) In a statement of claim filed in late March, the society claims Beaver needs to pay back $285,491.11 to cover the misappropriated funds.
  
  Allegations made in the statement of claim have not been proven in court.
  
  Beaver is also being sued for allegedly racking up $135,795.91 with Bank of Montreal through a guarantee, an operating loan and a corporate Mastercard account.
  
  The society paid Bank of Montreal a valuable consideration to take over Beaver's debt in November 2015.

For more, see Shawn Beaver sued by Law Society of Alberta for misused client money.

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(1) The Alberta Lawyers Insurance Association (ALIA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Law Society of Alberta (the organization that regulates lawyers in the province of Alberta, Canada), created to manage the insurance program for Alberta lawyers. It administers both professional liability claims made against the lawyers, as well as client claims from those members of the public who have sustained a financial loss by theft, embezzlement, etc. caused by the dishonest conduct of any lawyer practicing in the province. All lawyers in private practice in the province must purchase mandatory insurance coverage through ALIA. Excess coverage is voluntary and is available through the Canadian Lawyers Insurance Association.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that sometimes help cover the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other Canadian provinces and states throughout the U.S., see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (February 2017) (includes Canadian recovery/insurance programs, courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.