Winnipeg lawyer charged with multiple counts of professional misconduct

A Winnipeg lawyer has been found guilty on more than a dozen charges of breaching his professional code of conduct, after three different citations were filed against him, and he will now wait to learn what punishment he will face. 

Paul Sydney Vyamucharo-Shawa of Winnipeg-based Shawa Law Office is guilty of a total of 17 charges of breaching the Law Society of Manitoba's Code of Conduct, says the decision handed down on June 20.

The 67-year old attorney has been hit with three different citations since spring 2022, accusing him of acts including breaching an undertaking to the Law Society, breach of integrity, failure to treat the court with candour, courtesy and respect, and failure to be courteous, civil and act in good faith. 

He was also accused of recording conversations with clients and other lawyers without informing participants of his intentions, and of sending correspondence that is "abusive, offensive or otherwise inconsistent with a proper tone of a professional communication from a lawyer."

A three-person panel decided Vyamucharo-Shawa is guilty of 17 of the 20 charges he faced in three separate citations, filed on May 26, 2022, Feb. 26, 2024, and March 13, 2024. 

The panel was "particularly concerned" with what it perceived to be a "refusal or perhaps an inability to accept responsibility and accountability for conduct which was clearly and demonstrably unacceptable," and said because of those concerns, they found some of his evidence "generally unreliable," the decision says.

A citation filed in May 2022 includes charges of several improprieties related to a real estate transaction in which Vyamucharo-Shawa and another party were involved, while the citation filed on Feb. 26, 2024, is also related to that transaction.

The March 13, 2024, citation included a charge of failing to carry on the practice of law and to discharge all of his responsibilities to a former client, the court and the public. 

Vyamucharo-Shawa has been a member of the Law Society of Manitoba since 1989, and this is not the first time he has been in hot water with the society. 

In 2019, he pleaded guilty on five charges of professional misconduct and served a six-month suspension from practising, while in 2000, he pleaded guilty to nine charges, three involving misappropriating funds from a trust account. 

He also received a formal caution in 1999 for breaching a trust condition. 

The Law Society said in their decision they will now contact their discipline committee administrator to arrange a date for hearing to decide what sanctions will be handed to Vyamucharo-Shawa.