Law Society takes action to protect BC public from unauthorized practice of law
Vancouver, March 12, 2018 – The Law Society of British Columbia has a responsibility to protect the public against individuals who hold themselves out as lawyers when they are not. The Law Society will take action against those who put the public at risk by performing unregulated and uninsured legal services or misrepresenting themselves as lawyers. When the Law Society receives a complaint, it will investigate and take appropriate action if there is a potential for harm to the public.
From October 4, 2017 to March 11, 2018, the Law Society obtained undertakings from seven individuals and businesses not to engage in the practice of law. Undertakings are written promises from individuals to stop engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. If undertakings are not complied with, the Law Society may obtain a court order. During that time period, the Law Society also obtained orders prohibiting the following individuals and businesses from engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.
On November 8, 2017, Madame Justice Maisonville granted an injunction prohibiting Jeff Sprague, of Langley, doing business as Damage Inc., from engaging in the practice of law, commencing, prosecuting or defending a proceeding in any court unless acting on his own behalf and representing himself as a lawyer or any other title that connotes that he is entitled or qualified to practice law. The order does not prohibit Sprague from performing legal services while employed and supervised by a practising lawyer. Sprague consented to pay the Law Society fixed costs in the amount of $3,000.
Mumtaz Ali Khan and M. Khan & Company. Immigration Counsellors Ltd., of Surrey, BC, consented to an order entered January 30, 2018, prohibiting them from engaging in the practice of law, representing themselves as lawyers or a law firm, and from commencing, prosecuting or defending proceedings in court. In its petition, the Law Society alleged that Khan offered and prepared court documents for divorce proceedings for a fee, and wrongfully represented himself as capable and qualified to do so. As a term of the order, Khan and the company were required to repay the $2,500 the company received to perform the divorce services. The order does not prohibit Khan or the company from performing immigration services pursuant to the federal immigration statutes as long as he remains a licensed immigration consultant.
On February 22, 2018, Mr. Justice McEwan ordered that Adam Wilson, doing business as Adam Wilson LLC and "www.adamwilsonllc.com," be permanently prohibited from engaging in the practice of law, falsely representing himself as a lawyer and commencing, prosecuting or defending a proceeding on behalf of another party. On the website, Wilson falsely represented himself as being a Canadian lawyer and managing partner of a law firm in British Columbia and Arizona and offered immigration and other legal services for a fee. The court awarded the Law Society $3,000 in costs.
To read the orders, search by name in the Law Society's database of unauthorized practitioners.
The Law Society acts against the unauthorized practice of law to ensure only trained, qualified lawyers, or articled students or paralegals under a lawyer's supervision, may provide legal services and advice to the public, as others are neither regulated nor insured. The Law Society upholds and protects the public interest in the administration of justice by ensuring the independence, integrity and competence of lawyers, establishing education and professional development standards for lawyers, regulating the practice of law and preserving and protecting the rights and freedoms of all persons.
Vinnie Yuen
vyuen@lsbc.org
djordan@lsbc.org