The Law Society of B.C. has reprimanded a former prosecutor and Surrey-based lawyer for unreasonably billing the Public Prosecution Service of Canada across a 15-year span.
While working full-time with the B.C. Prosecution Service (BCPS), James William Lees, KC, also billed the federal service 2,622 hours per year on average between 2005 and 2020.
In a consent agreement with the society issued May 20, Lees admitted he committed professional misconduct and agreed not to change his practice status from non-practising to practising, unless he is employed as Crown Counsel with the BCPS or otherwise only with the permission of the society.
The society stated in a discipline notice published online that Lees “openly wore two hats for years at Surrey Provincial Court: he was a full-time provincial Crown prosecutor, while also working as a federal agent dealing with federal prosecution files.”
The society said Lees’ billing practices were consistent with the direction he was given in the late 1990s and early 2000s but “became untenable when the volume of his federal agency work increased substantially.”
Lees had been billing the federal service for “waiting time” while in court, constituting about 70 per cent of his charges.
“During most of those waiting hours, [Lees] was speaking in court to BCPS files,” the agreement noted.
Beginning in 2003, Lees billed the federal service through his local firm J.M. LeDressay and Associates for travel time to and from court, even though he was already required to be there as a BCPS prosecutor, according to the agreement.
The society said it initiated an investigation in February 2021 following a complaint from the federal service.
Lees’ employment with the BCPS was terminated in September of 2021, the agreement stated.
Lees agreed he breached the Code of Conduct which reads: “A lawyer must not charge or accept a fee … unless it is fair and reasonable, and has been disclosed in a timely fashion.”
From 2006-2020, “[Lees] failed to contact his agent supervisor to determine whether the manner in which he billed his court appearances remained appropriate, given the significant increase in work and billings,” the agreement added.
Lees’ reprimand is a blemish to what the society described as an otherwise exemplary reputation “as a capable and hard-working prosecutor who was able to resolve many files before trial.”
Lees was an expert in charge assessment and was designated Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel or KC) in 2009.
Lees’ misconduct, the agreement stated, involved billing as opposed to the quality of his work.
Another mitigating factor is that Lees had been initially given direction as to how he was to bill for his time while providing work for both services.
