B.C. lawyer suspended for ‘conduct unbecoming’ during impaired driving stop

A breathalyzer is shown in Vancouver, B.C., in a Dec. 21, 2011 file image. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

A lawyer from B.C.’s Lower Mainland has been suspended for one month after admitting to “conduct unbecoming” during an impaired driving stop.

The Law Society of B.C. said Manpreet Singh Bains was pulled over by an RCMP officer on May 28, 2023, and failed two roadside breathalyzer tests.

The officer filed a complaint after Bains allegedly tried talking his way out of an immediate roadside prohibition.

Bains admitted to pulling out his Law Society membership card during the interaction and telling the officer, “We work in the same field, does this not account to something?”

The complaint was investigated by the Law Society, and a hearing panel determined Bains’ behaviour could “reasonably be perceived as attempting to use his status as a lawyer” to avoid punishment.

“The respondent admits that his status as a lawyer was not relevant to the peace officer’s decision of whether to issue an IRP,” reads the panel’s decision, which was issued last week.

The RCMP officer ultimately gave Bains a 90-day driving prohibition and a $500 fine. The lawyer’s vehicle was also impounded for 30 days.

According to the decision, Bains had been given immediate roadside prohibitions twice before – first in 2019, when he failed a breathalyzer test, and again in 2021, when he registered a “warn” reading.

Prior to the 2023 incident, Bains had been at a private gathering where he “consumed three to five alcoholic beverages” and “became intoxicated,” the hearing panel found.

The RCMP officer stopped him in Surrey at around 4 p.m.

On top of his suspension, the Law Society ordered Bains to pay $1,000 in costs.

The panel said the length of his suspension “sends a message to the public that the Law Society takes such behaviour seriously and will deal appropriately with lawyers who attempt to seek special treatment due to their status as lawyers.”