A Surrey lawyer who was subject to nine concurrent administrative suspensions for failing to respond to correspondence from the provincial regulator has been deemed “ungovernable” and disbarred. Through counsel, Rohita Pannu told a hearing panel of the Law Society of B.C. that her failure to respond to the latest citation was a result of a mental health condition, which the citation itself had exacerbated. She asked the panel to adjourn the hearing, but it declined to do so, noting that the hearing had already been adjourned by consent five times, and that continuing to delay proceedings could adversely affect public confidence in the law society. The panel also found that Pannu had not proven that her mental health prevented her from responding to correspondence, noting that it had concluded she was well enough to work in February 2025. “In the panel’s view, a lawyer who is well enough to work would be well enough to participate in the disciplinary process,” the panel’s decision reads. “Doing so is a requirement for all members.” The 49-page document goes into relatively little detail about the underlying allegations of misconduct that prompted the nine investigations to which Pannu failed to respond. Rather, it focuses on her lengthy disciplinary history and pattern of ignoring the regulator’s correspondence. Pannu’s record, according to the decision, included “practice standards recommendations; two failures to pay costs; three practice supervision agreements; two undertakings; and nine administrative suspensions.” The first of the suspensions was imposed in November 2023, and Pannu remained suspended from then until her disbarment, racking up four additional suspensions in November 2023, two more in December of that year, and two more in 2024. All of the suspensions were for failure to respond to law society correspondence. “The respondent has demonstrated a consistent pattern of inability or unwillingness to comply with regulatory requirements,” the decision notes, summarizing the panel’s reasons for declaring her ungovernable. In addition to ordering Pannu’s disbarment, the panel ordered her to pay $6,156 in costs to the law society within 30 days.
