The Law Society of British Columbia recently suspended a lawyer for one month after he received an Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP) and attempted to use his professional status to get out of it. The regulator found that the lawyer’s behaviour was unbecoming. This makes it clear that, for many professionals, a police investigation and the issuance of an IRP is not just a driving restriction. It can become a career-altering event, especially when paired with poor judgment and a sense of professional entitlement.
Attempt to Use Legal Status Backfires
The lawyer, Manpreet Singh Bains, was pulled over by RCMP in Surrey, failed two roadside breath tests, and was issued a 90-day IRP. During the investigation he tried to show the officer his Law Society membership card and suggested that because they “work in the same field,” it should “count for something.”
It did count for something. The officer reported Bains to the Law Society. Disciplinary counsel for the Law Society opened a file, investigated, and the Law Society formed a consent agreement in which Bains admitted to conduct unbecoming a lawyer. His status as a lawyer was not a shield but a sword pointed at his own professional standing. The hearing panel accepted a joint submission that included a one-month suspension and $1,000 in costs.
A Pattern of Misconduct
This wasn’t the lawyer’s first brush with roadside prohibitions. He had two prior IRPs before he was called to the bar, including a 90-day prohibition in 2019 and a three-day prohibition in 2021. He completed two remedial drinking-and-driving courses. None of this would have become public but for his attempt to use his professional status to get out of the IRP.
Consequences Beyond the Roadside
The public already views lawyers with suspicion. Police, in particular, are not inclined to extend any professional courtesies. Many officers dislike lawyers—not just abstractly, but personally. It’s a mistake to think they’ll cut you a break because of your role. If anything, identifying yourself as a lawyer in the middle of a traffic stop paints a big target on your back. In this case, it led directly to the lawyer being suspended.
The Law Society panel was clear: “Such conduct harms the standing of the legal profession because it erodes the public’s trust in lawyers to act honourably.” The panel quoted similar cases from Alberta, where lawyers who invoked their professional status during police encounters were likewise disciplined. Being a lawyer doesn’t make you immune. It may make you an example.
This case should also put to rest any myth that an IRP is a “private matter” for a lawyer. It’s not. IRPs are not criminal convictions, but they trigger mandatory administrative consequences, and those consequences can cascade into your professional life.
Final Warning to Legal Professionals
The profession and the Law Society tend to suggest that lawyers are different from other people. There is a sense of superiority nurtured by the Law Society and the old guard of the Bar—a desire to maintain an antiquated idea of lawyers being better than others. There is no doubt that lawyers do hold a special role in our society, in particular with regards to legal privilege and the protection of rights. When a lawyer attempts to use their status to their own benefit to avoid some sort of consequence such as an IRP, this undermines the status of lawyers in the mind of reasonable people.
To any lawyer facing an IRP: deal with it properly, with competent legal counsel. Do not try to handle it yourself, and never try to use your status to get out of it during the stop. The officer is not your friend. And if you think being a lawyer will help, remember this: for some officers, that’s exactly the reason they’ll make a complaint about your conduct.