Manitoba lawyer disbarred over 'fraudulent billing scheme' that invoiced public legal funds

A lawyer who used a "fraudulent billing scheme" to invoice a legal-assistance program for low-income Manitobans has been disbarred after the province's legal society found him guilty on multiple counts of professional misconduct. 

In a Feb. 3 decision, a Law Society of Manitoba panel found Rishi Ganesh Bharath, who was first called to the bar in 2016, guilty on five charges of professional misconduct. A notice of disbarment was published earlier this month. 

Bharath's scheme involved taking on clients receiving assistance from Legal Aid Manitoba — a provincial program that provides legal assistance to Manitobans who cannot afford to hire a lawyer — and withdrawing representation under false pretenses, while still charging Legal Aid Manitoba the full amount related to each case. 

Between 2022 and 2023, six clients experienced a consistent pattern of unethical behaviour: Bharath took on Legal Aid Manitoba certificates and provided limited services, before abruptly closing the certificates and claiming he lost contact with the client. 

In several cases, the law society says he continued to have contact with clients after he had already closed their certificates. 

Under the society's code of conduct, lawyers cannot withdraw representation "except for good cause and on reasonable notice to the client." 

In the case of one client — referred to as Client A in Citation 1 of the decision document — Bharath attacked their character, claiming Client A had gang affiliations and "an extensive criminal record," despite there being no criminal record in the client file materials, the society wrote. 

Bharath blamed other clients — outlined in Citation 2, submitted by Legal Aid Manitoba — for his withdrawal of representation, suggesting that addiction and mental-health issues affected clients' abilities to respond. 

Both Legal Aid Manitoba and the Law Society of Manitoba investigated Bharath's conduct, finding billing irregularities that the lawyer then attempted to cover up. 

On two occasions, Bharath created fraudulent documents during the investigations "in an apparent effort to evade responsibility," the law society wrote in its decision. 

Bharath claimed he wrote a letter to Client A on Aug. 25, 2022, stating "I have not heard from you in a while," despite the Legal Aid Manitoba certificate being issued days before. He charged Legal Aid Manitoba for 90 minutes of his time to draft this letter. 

Client A says the letter was never received and the law society found that Bharath fabricated the letter to mislead its investigation.  

When questioned about specific charges, the society says Bharath changed his invoices to misrepresent his work and the time he spent doing it, in order to maintain his eligibility to charge the full amount for each case. 

The society also found Bharath to be "ungovernable," charging him with professional misconduct after he stopped responding to law society communications in January 2024. He did not respond to any of the hearing materials, nor did he submit any written statements or legal documents.  

The panel ordered that Bharath pay a $9,200 penalty at a disciplinary hearing last November, which he did not attend. No legal representative attended on his behalf. 

The Law Society of Manitoba says Bharath submitted an application to withdraw from active practice on Feb. 28, 2024. While he is now non-practicing, the society says his withdrawal "has no impact on the Society's obligation to protect the public."

Bharath's conduct "went to the heart of the Society's public protection role and the purpose of discipline," the society wrote, adding that "the public were victims of misappropriation" in the lawyer's billing scheme.