Disgraced ex-lawyer seeks to regain his licence
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An alcoholic disbarred criminal defence lawyer — sentenced to six months in jail in 2015 for trying to bilk a client out of $1,000 — is trying to retrieve his licence to practise law.
Muhammad-Danish Munir, who once boasted he “was a magical lawyer,” surrendered his licence in 2016 after pleading guilty to professional misconduct at a Law Society of Ontario tribunal.
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Munir will likely attend the Sept. 9 proceeding management conference with his counsel to discuss further dates in his effort to resurrect his legal career.
Munir, now 51, admitted in 2016 his fraudulent actions “constituted professional misconduct” and he must resign within 14 days or the society will revoke his licence, panel chairman David Wright said.
A teary-eyed Munir told the panel he “gave Ontario’s 30,000 lawyers a black eye. Now I’m going to walk away from this profession … that I loved more than anything.”
Munir was sentenced to six months in jail in September 2015 and served a two-year probation for fraud under $5,000.
When Munir discovered the Crown would drop a sexual assault charge against a client in February 2014, he misled his client’s sister, the panel heard.
Munir lied that he needed $1,000 to bribe a corrupt cop and terminate the case.
He warned that his client risked jail and deportation without the bribe.
The ploy backfired when the client’s sister contacted police who set up a sting operation that culminated in Munir’s arrest.
In the sting, the client’s sister and an undercover officer met Munir to drop off the cash.
Munir was recorded boasting, “Let’s just say I’m a magical lawyer,” and he claimed to be “one of the top 10” lawyers in Toronto.
Munir, who practised for eight years in Canada, said “alcoholism is my biggest problem and I stopped drinking the next day after I was charged.”
Doctors confirmed Munir hasn’t consumed alcohol for the past two years at his court appearance in 2016.
Munir will have the opportunity to apply to reinstate his licence in the future.
He “suffered from alcoholic brain damage, which was characterized by aberrant behaviour, binge drinking with frequent withdrawal episodes, withdrawal seizures and overall very poor judgment,” the panel heard.
He was sober when he tried to rip off his client for a grand while fabricating a story about bribing a non-existent corrupt cop.
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