A Nanaimo lawyer convicted of the sexual assault of a prospective client has been disbarred for professional misconduct related to the 2018 assault.
Marc Andre Scheirer was disbarred by the Law Society of B.C. in a decision released last week.
The law society’s decision said Scheirer, also known as Marc Andre Eckardt, received a call in February 2018 from a prospective client.
The client, whose husband had been charged with domestic assault, wanted legal advice about having the terms of her husband’s bail varied so they could live together.
During a meeting with the woman at Scheirer’s workplace, he put his head on her chest, rubbed her leg and moved his hand toward her crotch. When she tried to stand up, he pushed her down and said: “Nicer you are to me now, the sooner we get your husband home,” according to the decision.
The assault lasted about 60 seconds and was “very distressing” for the woman, who was in a vulnerable state, the decision said.
The woman reported the incident to police the same evening.
Scheirer was convicted on Nov. 27, 2020, and given a suspended sentence and two years’ probation.
In May 2023, the law society determined Scheirer had committed professional misconduct.
Scheirer resigned his membership in the law society in June.
The society decided to disbar Scheirer based on the severity of the misconduct, his previous record of misconduct and a failure to acknowledge his inappropriate behaviour.
His conduct was “utterly reprehensible,” the panel wrote.
“That the crime was committed against a vulnerable person who sought him out to provide legal advice makes the conduct even more egregious,” it said.
Scheirer amassed a concerning conduct record within a short period of being called to the B.C. bar in 2015, the decision said.
He has had to agree not to practise criminal law or family law and not to meet with any women or minors unless there is another adult present. His lengthy record includes inappropriate behaviour toward another female client in “alarmingly similar circumstances,” the panel wrote.
On Dec. 13, 2021, he was found to have committed professional misconduct after inviting a female client to his house to discuss her family law matter, only to change from his business suit into shorts and an unbuttoned shirt, pour himself a martini and sit next to her on the couch with his arm around her back. The client stood up and left.
“With respect to the dishonourable conduct, the respondent (Scheirer) submitted that he was between offices, that this was the only time he had met a client at his home, and that he had the flu and a fractured rib, the pain of which was alleviated by placing his arm on the back of the couch,” said a November 2022 disciplinary ruling of a law society hearing panel.
Scheirer told the panel he had been treated for alcohol dependency and was remorseful, but the panel concluded he had not “acknowledged his misconduct in a meaningful or sufficient way.”
The panel also found Scheirer failed to “provide the quality of service required of a competent lawyer” between April 2018 and January 2019 by not keeping the complainant informed and ignoring her calls and requests for information.
Scheirer was suspended for six months and ordered to pay costs of $24,084.86 in that incident.
The society disciplinary panel found the only appropriate sanction following the sexual assault was disbarment, because Scheirer’s lack of remorse raised concerns about his potential for rehabilitation.
The society decided not to order Scheirer to pay costs of more than $13,000 because of his dire financial circumstances, which include time on social assistance, significant debt and health issues and reliance on food banks.
— with files from Graeme Wood, Glacier Media
