A Vernon lawyer accused of misappropriating and improperly withdrawing funds, and filing false materials with the B.C. Supreme Court, was denied the chance to delay a conduct hearing with the Law Society of B.C.
The Law Society dismissed an application by Leonard Hil Marriott to adjourn his conduct hearing on Thursday, June 20. The hearing went ahead on Monday, June 24.
Marriott, who owns North Valley Law in Vernon, is accused of failing to provide a client "with the quality of service expected of a competent lawyer" in a property transfer matter and an estates matter between May 2019 and September 2020, according to a citation by the Law Society.
Marriott is accused of failing to adequately investigate the facts and identify the legal issues in the case.
Between July 2019 and September 2020, Marriott is accused of filing materials with the B.C. Supreme Court that he "knew or ought to have known contained false or misleading information." He is also accused of failing to ensure the materials were "forthright and accurate."
As well, around November 2019, in an estate matter, Marriott allegedly advised a client that he was not in possession of and had never seen a valid will for a deceased person, when he should have known that was a false or misleading statement.
According to court documents, Marriott twice retained lawyers over the course of the proceedings, but both times his lawyers removed themselves as his counsel.
The Law Society has taken other disciplinary actions against Marriott. The lawyer is alleged to have misappropriated just under $27,000 from a client, according to a citation dated June 14, 2023. He is also alleged to have “improperly” withdrawn from trust “some or all” of $71,149.12 in legal fees in March 2019, despite the fact that the beneficiary hadn’t consented to the withdrawal. The Law Society has not yet made its decision on this case.
The allegations have yet to be proven in court.
