P.A. lawyer disbarred over disturbing, deceitful behaviour

A Prince Albert lawyer has lost his license to practice for what the Law Society of Saskatchewan calls disturbing and deceitful behaviour that “strikes a blow against the fundamental principles of the legal profession’s code, namely; honesty, trustworthiness and protection of the public.”

Peter V. Abrametz Sr. was disbarred following a penalty hearing into his conduct on several files between 2008 and 2010. In a decision this week, Abrametz was ordered to pay more than $58,000 in costs to the Law Society of Saskatchewan and cannot reapply to practice law until Jan.1, 2021. Abrametz Sr. was previously found guilty of conduct unbecoming a lawyer in relation to the incidents. 

In an emailed statement to paNOW, the law society said Abrametz showed a lack of understanding and remorse for his behaviour and the committee has opted to remove him from practice “as a means of protecting the public.” Abrametz was found to have inappropriately handled several files, including trust funds relating to eight clients, issuing trust cheques to a fictitious person in order to transfer funds to himself and failing to maintain proper records and loaning money to clients.

The law society began investigating Abrametz in December 2012 after he self-reported his failure to comply with law society regulations. 

The law society says Abrametz created “an elaborate scheme” to issue cheques to a  fictitious person, then endorsed the cheques himself using the fake signature. Abrametz claimed the fake name had been “dreamt-up” years ago and had been used in the past to order magazine subscriptions and bid on silent auction items.

GST Holiday

Federal government's two-month GST holiday begins

8h ago

Imminent need

Council set to discuss possible location for homeless shelter on 15th Street

14h ago

International Spotlight

P.A.'s Howe one of 4 Sask. born players named to Canada's World Junior roster

Dec 13, 2024

“The committee found the member’s attitude to be cavalier and disturbing in relation to the use of the pseudonym,” the hearing committee found. “The committee is of the opinion, based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, that the member has shown a complete lack of understanding and remorse for his behaviour.”

The law society also said Abrametz prepared misleading invoices and records “in an effort to deceive” and frequently loaned money to clients, charging 30 per cent in interest on top of the contingency fee of 20 to 30 per cent.

“The loans were made to clients, many of which were considered vulnerable, for various purposes including the purchase of a house and vehicles, Christmas shopping, daycare expenses and hockey registration,” the law society statement reads. “The Committee found that the Member had made the loans for purposes that were not necessary to the legal matter that the Member was retained for and that the 30 per cent loan fee charged by the Member was neither fair nor reasonable.”

Abrametz told paNOW Tuesday afternoon that he plans to appeal the decision from the discipline committee. Abrametz said he is surprised at the disbarment and has concerns about how the process was handled.

“I believe the penalty is excessive,” Abrametz said. “There was no complaint made against me by any member of the public, the process is all generated by the law society, and it took six or seven years and in the end, I don’t think was fair to me and wasn’t fair to my clients.”

Abrametz Sr. said his current files will be handled by other lawyers in his office while he appeals the disbarment.

Note: Peter V. Abrametz Sr. is not to be confused with Peter A. Abrametz, who also practices law in Prince Albert.

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt