License Revoked For Fleeing Paralegal
A Tribunal Hearing Division of the Upper Canada Law Society revoked a paralegal’s license
The evidence…establishes conclusively that the Paralegal engaged in professional misconduct. The misconduct is of a very serious nature involving at least 11 clients and affecting the lives of hundreds of individuals who placed their trust in him. The Paralegal misappropriated over $1 million, relied on fraudulent documents and failed to serve his clients. The Paralegal, who was not a registered immigration consultant offered and performed immigration services beyond the scope of his P1 licence with respect to Clients B, G, F, J, K and M. He acted in matters where there was or was likely to be a conflict in interest with respect to Client’s N and O by offering financing through VIPA Financial and failing to disclose his ownership interest in that business. Finally, he failed to co-operate with the Law Society’s investigations into the complaints against him.
The Paralegal appears to be on the run from the law. His whereabouts have been unknown since the summer of 2014. Unfortunately, it is likely that this panel’s decision will have little impact upon the Paralegal. Nonetheless, it is important to the public’s confidence in the profession that we convey this Tribunal’s condemnation for the Paralegal’s reprehensible conduct by imposing the most severe sanction available to us – revocation of his licence to provide legal services. In addition, we ordered that he repay the Compensation Fund the sum of $33,680 paid in respect of these complaints and that he pay costs of $15,555.
Canada Immigration Blog reported on his 2014 interlocutory suspension.
The Law Society of Upper Canada suspended the paralegal license of the person below, amid massive fraud allegations involving at least 180 applications for work permits and close to a million dollars in client funds. He apparently fled the country, according to the decision below. The most bizarre thing in this case is that the person in question was a licensed paralegal by LSUC, who apparently had run afoul of the regulator, so one is left to wonder how things got out of hand so quickly before the brakes were put on this person, or even how he even got a license as a paralegal. That is not clear from the decision. This calls paralegal regulation into question, which is already a very controversial topic in the Bar.
(Mike Frisch)