By paNOW Staff

P.A. lawyer guilty of misconduct

Jan 25, 2018 | 4:00 PM

A Prince Albert lawyer has been found guilty of professional misconduct.

Peter V. Abrametz Sr. was found guilty of conduct unbecoming a lawyer by the Law Society of Saskatchewan, the province’s legal regulatory body. Abrametz, who has been a practicing lawyer in the Prince Albert region since 1973, was accused of seven counts of misconduct. The law society found him guilty of four counts following several hearings held last year, and published their written decision on the matter this week.

The first count of misconduct involved Abrametz directing clients to sign payment cheques over to him rather than depositing them into his law office account, as required by law society regulations. The second charge found Abrametz “did knowingly cause trust cheques to be issued to a fictitious person for the purpose of effecting a transfer of funds for payment to himself.”

The third count found Abrametz failed to maintain books and records to law society standards, and a fourth count found he violated law society rules by entering into a debtor or creditor relationship with numerous clients without ensuring the transactions were fair and reasonable.

He was not found guilty of three further allegations of misconduct.

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The infractions first came to the attention of the law society during a 2012 investigation of Kristian Eggum, who Abrametz was practicing with at their law firm Abrametz & Eggum. During the hearings, law society accountant John Allen testified that Abrametz self-reported eight transactions that were admittedly not compliant with law society rules, triggering the new investigation. The law society sought to suspend Abrametz in 2013, but an agreement was reached to allow him to continue practicing under restrictions.

According to the law society, a penalty hearing for Abrametz “will be scheduled in due course.” He currently maintains approximately 200 active files, according to the written decision.

Abrametz could not be reached for comment. A message left with his legal counsel was not returned before deadline.

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

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @PrinceAlbertNOW