Former law dean should be disbarred for 'scheme' that cost University of Manitoba $500K, law society says
Law Society of Manitoba to issue decision on Jonathan Black-Branch in near future
A lawyer representing the Law Society of Manitoba argues the public must be protected from a former law school dean by barring him from practising law for spending over half a million dollars of the University of Manitoba's funds in what "amounted to fraud."
Rocky Kravetsky, who represents the law society, said Jonathan Black-Branch should be disbarred for showing a "pervasive and persistent lack of integrity" while dean of law at Manitoba's largest post-secondary institution from 2016 to 2020.
"He has demonstrated a pattern of dishonesty, of manipulation, of subordinance, of what in other circumstances might be called outward theft," Kravetsky told a disciplinary panel of the law society on Tuesday at the consequence hearing for Black-Branch.
"The message needs to go out from this place, from this committee, that you don't get to do the kinds of deliberate, planned, morally reprehensible, fraudulent things that he did and call yourself a member of this profession."
On top of disbarment, Kravetsky asked the panel to award $36,000 in costs to the law society associated with Black-Branch's professional misconduct investigation and hearing, which ended in November.
The disciplinary panel will issue a written decision in the near future, said Grant Mitchell, the law society panel chairperson. Besides disbarment, possible penalties include a suspension or reprimand.
Black-Branch misspent a "staggering" amount — "almost $650,000" — but that still isn't as concerning as the "systematic" way in which he set out to do so over a prolonged period of time, Kravetsky said.
A professional misconduct hearing involving Black-Branch, who was never in attendance, ended in November.
Black-Branch, who was appointed dean in 2016, left the U of M without public explanation in early 2020.
That summer, the U of M announced an internal investigation found that a senior employee had misspent university funds.
The university didn't initially name the employee, but a group of law faculty wrote to the law society in the weeks after the announcement, urging the society to look into Black-Branch, whom they suspected was the unnamed employee.
Around the same time, the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom backed out of its decision to hire Black-Branch as the new head of law there, citing a change in circumstances.
The University of Manitoba was criticized, including by a prominent U of M ethics professor, for its decision not to pursue criminal or civil charges against Black-Branch.
In an emailed statement to CBC News, a university spokesperson said the U of M did not enter into a non-disclosure or settlement agreement with Black-Branch, and that "any restrictions on the university's ability to speak to this matter flowed from legislation such as the Public Interest Disclosure Act and FIPPA."
"We are also now in the preliminary stages of pursuing legal action against Mr. Black-Branch to recover the funds," the U of M spokesperson stated.
Actions 'amounted to fraud'
A month ago, Mitchell and his two co-panelists issued a written decision that said Black-Branch breached his integrity as a lawyer through a "scheme" he devised to obtain financial benefits "in a system calculated to avoid oversight."
They said some of his actions involving double charging for meals at Winnipeg restaurants and misrepresenting dozens of expense claims as professional in nature "amounted to fraud."
The law society only regulates lawyers and the legal profession in Manitoba, but the panel said in that decision that "even if the standard had been the criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt, the panel would have been satisfied that proof was sufficient."
About $472,000 of the money came from a U of M Desautels endowment fund meant for development opportunities for students. Black-Branch used those funds to take Ivy League certification courses.
"One could argue there are a million victims, because the university is funded to a large extent by taxpayers," Mitchell said.
A university spokesperson said Tuesday the U of M informed the endowment fund donor the "misspent funds were restored through self-insurance" and implemented new policies after a review to help prevent something like this from happening again.
The misspending came in various forms, including instructing financial staff at the U of M to send $75,000 to the ISLAND Foundation, which Black-Branch was president of at the time.
Much of the rest of the misspending came from false expense claims, or chits, that he charged to the U of M from restaurants like the members-only Manitoba Club, the law society said.
"He didn't steal money just once. He didn't do just one thing. He did hundreds of things, if you count those false expense chits," Kravetsky said. "It was a scheme."
Mental health considerations
Black-Branch requested his misconduct hearing be adjourned more than once on the basis of a mental health condition.
The panel found the final letter uncompelling and moved forward as it didn't include sufficient details about Black-Branch's prognosis or treatment.
Kravetsky said Black-Branch offered no statement attesting to how a mental health condition contributed to his behaviour while dean.
If disbarred, Black-Branch could reapply to be licensed again in a decade, but he would have to demonstrate he repaired his character and meet whatever other criteria the law society includes in its discipline decision, Kravetsky said.
Black-Branch is also licensed in the U.K. and owns property there.
Kravetsky said he intends to notify his counterparts in the U.K. when the case concludes.
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