Law Society of BC

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B.C. Law Society upholds member vote, won't recognize TWU law school grads

VANCOUVER - The British Columbia Law Society will not recognize graduates of a controversial Trinity Western University law school.

The society's governing council voted Friday to reverse an earlier decision and uphold the results of a member referendum, rejecting accreditation for law graduates from Trinity Western University.

No one from the society was immediately available to comment.

Students and staff at the private post-secondary facility in the so-called "Bible Belt" in British Columbia's Fraser Valley, must sign a covenant that prohibits sex outside of a marriage that is between a man and a woman.

The proviso has triggered intense debate in legal circles across the country and pitted religious freedoms against same-sex equality rights in Canada.

University spokesman Guy Saffold said officials were disappointed with the law society's decision.

"Putting difficult issues of human rights up to a popular vote, essentially, is not the way these things should be done," Saffold said.

"In Canada we balance these issues in a very thoughtful way, through our courts, and don't vote on issues of minority rights."

Officials have not yet decided whether to pursue legal action in B.C., as they have done in other provinces.

"We'd certainly like to find a way to resolve it apart from legal process ... but it's not been possible so far," Saffold said.

"We're quite committed, as a Christian university, to our religious beliefs and those are not things we could easily compromise."

The university went through a similar tumult in 2001, when it opened a school of education. That issue ultimately ended up before the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled in 2001 in favour of Trinity Western over the B.C. College of Teachers.

The law school is "essentially the same issue," Saffold said.

"There was a strong feeling by many that the university was behaving inappropriately but the Supreme Court did not see it that way when it was put to a very careful legal test."

The Law Society of Canada has approved Trinity's program and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association has come out in favour of accreditation.

Alberta and Saskatchewan's bar associations have approved accreditation. Manitoba and Saskatchewan have put decisions on hold.

Law societies in Ontario and Nova Scotia voted against accrediting students, prompting Trinity Western to turn to the courts in both provinces.

Judicial reviews of the Nova Scotia and Ontario decisions are scheduled, separately, in Ontario Superior Court and Nova Scotia Supreme Court in December.

In April, the governing council of the B.C. Law Society decided to accredit the law school but members voted against it in a non-binding vote in June.

The governors then announced the mail-in referendum at the end of September. More than 73 per cent of the members who voted did so against accreditation.

On Friday, 25 of 30 "benchers" voted in favour of upholding the referendum result. One was opposed and four members abstained.

The law school at Trinity Western is slated to open in 2016.

Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Society+upholds+member+vote+recognize+school+grads/10342376/story.html

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Mussio Goodman Prevents Unfair Medical Assessment of Client

We are pleased to report that  Anthony Eden of Mussio Goodman successfully defended our client’s interests by preventing a Defendant IME (independent medical examination) with a neurologist expert of the insurance company’s choosing.

Insurance companies are entitled to defend a claim by compelling the injured person to attend an IME with doctors of their choosing. The law is clear that Plaintiffs must attend these appointments as long as they are reasonable. Unfortunately, sometimes the insurance companies cross the line in terms of what is reasonable under the law.

In a recent case, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of our client because his disability benefits had been unduly terminated. In order to prove his claim, we retained the services of a doctor who is an expert in the field of chronic pain. This doctor also has a broad range of expertise, including neurology.

Additionally, we relied on our client’s family doctor in support of his ongoing disability. In response to these opinions, the insurance company attempted to disprove the claim using four expert reports; they sought one report from a psychiatrist, one from a vocational specialist, and one from an occupational physician. Then, they tried to obtain an additional report from a neurologist, claiming that our chronic pain expert was essentially a neurologist as well.

The insurance company therefore argued that they needed a neurology report to defend the claim. This was notwithstanding the fact that the insurance company had already sent our client to a neurologist in 2002 who wholeheartedly supported his disability. Notably, they wanted an updated report with a different neurologist, even though there had been no evidence of any neurological change since the 2002 report.

We opposed this IME  on the basis that it would make the trial unfair. The law is clear that the parties must be on equal footing with regard to the expert evidence. The Master in Chambers ultimately agreed with our argument, the reasons for which were published in Korpa v. Co-Operators Life Insurance Company 2014 BCSC 2246:

[26] The issue in this case is whether, in all the circumstances, there is a need to put the parties on an equal footing with respect to the medical evidence or, as it has sometimes been described, to balance the playing field.

[27] I have concluded that, for the following reasons, Mr. Korpa should not be required to attend an IME with Dr. Dost…

[36] In all these circumstances, I am not satisfied that the defence has shown the need for examination by a neurologist to balance the playing field.

Source: http://www.mussiogoodman.com/mussio-law-prevents-unfair-medical-assessment-client/

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Bencher Review Panel Confirms Discipline For Lawyer Who Misled Court

Vancouver – The Law Society sets standards of professional responsibility for BC lawyers and articled students, and upholds those standards through a complaints and discipline process. Accordingly, a review panel comprised of seven Law Society Governors – also known as Benchers – has maintained an earlier order that lawyer Vivian Chiang be suspended for misleading the BC Supreme Court.

High ethical standards are a hallmark of the legal profession, and these standards are the foundation of public confidence and trust in lawyers. In this case, the public is protected by imposing and publicizing a suspension.

The original order was issued in September 2013, when a Law Society hearing panel imposed a one-month suspension on Chiang. She was also required to pay $10,000 for the hearing cost. Following that decision, the Law Society issued a news release regarding the disciplinary action. On November 4, 2013 Chiang was granted a stay of the suspension pending the hearing of a review.

On November 10, 2014 the Bencher review panel concluded that the disciplinary action the hearing panel imposed on Chiang is appropriate and has dismissed her application for review.

Her suspension was expected to begin on December 1, 2014, however, the Law Society has agreed to delay the order while she applies to the Court of Appeal for a stay of the suspension [This information was updated on November 26].

The Law Society of British Columbia regulates the more than 11,000 practising lawyers in the province, setting and enforcing standards of professional conduct that ensure the public is well-served by a competent, honourable legal profession.

Source: https://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/page.cfm?cid=4006&t=Bencher-review-panel-confirms-discipline-for-lawyer-who-misled-court-%5Bupdated-November-26,-2014%5D

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Law Society Takes Action Against Unauthorized Practitioners

Vancouver – Under the Legal Profession Act, the Law Society is responsible for licensing lawyers and regulating the legal profession. The Law Society also takes action against those who put the public at risk by illegally offering legal services or misrepresenting themselves as lawyers.

On November 11, Christophere Nat Kit Ho, Thelma Wai Yee Leung and Ho & Associates Consulting Group Inc., all of Richmond, consented to an injunction prohibiting them from engaging in the practice of law for or in the expectation of a fee, gain or reward, direct or indirect from the parties for whom the acts are performed, unless and until they are authorized to do so. The Law Society was also awarded costs.

On November 7, a judge found Brian Carlisle of Abbotsford in contempt of a court order pronounced June 5, 2002. The court found that Carlisle had advertised legal services on the Internet and offered to prepare Charter applications for or in the expectation of a fee, contrary to the previous order. The court fined Carlisle $500 and awarded the Law Society its special costs.

On October 6, the Law Society was granted an injunction permanently prohibitingBradley Jonathan Renford, also known as Kim Elton Horne, doing business as Concise Paralegal Services, of Burnaby, from engaging in the practice of law, including preparing documents to be used in court proceedings or under statute, giving legal advice, offering legal services and from representing himself as qualified or entitled to engaging in the practice of law.

On September 9, the Law Society was granted an injunction permanently prohibiting Francisco MacDugall of Vancouver from engaging in the practice of law and from falsely representing himself as a lawyer, articled student or in any other manner that connotes he is authorized to practise law.

On September 18, John Karlsson, a former lawyer of Youbou consented to an order permanently prohibiting him from representing himself as a lawyer or from engaging in the practice of law as defined in section 1 of the Legal Profession Act.

On July 29, Ravinder P. Randhawa, also known as Ravinder Bains and Ravinderpal Randhawa, and her company, Randhawa Immigration Services Ltd., consented to an injunction permanently prohibiting Randhawa from holding herself out as a lawyer and prohibiting them from engaging in the practice of law for or in the expectation of a fee.

On February 6, Vancouver Credit Collection Inc., Nitya Nand also known as Nick Nand, Joysika Nand, and Nirmala Nand also known as Nancy Smith, all of Surrey, consented to an injunction permanently prohibiting them from engaging in the practice of law for or in the expectation of a fee, gain or reward and paid the Law Society’s costs.

On January 16, a judge ordered an injunction against Lisa Lihua Wu, of Richmond, prohibiting her from engaging in the practice of law. Wu had offered to draft legal documents, refer a matter to a lawyer and give legal advice in expectation of a fee.

To read the consent orders, see the Law Society’s database of unauthorized practitioners.

The Law Society of British Columbia regulates the more than 11,000 practising lawyers in the province, setting and enforcing standards of professional conduct that ensure the public is well-served by a competent, honourable legal profession.

Source: https://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/page.cfm?cid=4003&t=Law-Society-takes-action-against-unauthorized-practitioners

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Law Society of B.C. to hold binding referendum on Trinity Western law school

Lawyers will vote in October on whether to accredit the faith-based law school

The governing members of the Law Society of British Columbia have decided to hold a binding referendum to determine the future of a faith-based law school at Trinity Western University.

The board members, who are known as benchers, voted on Friday morning to hold the referendum at the earliest possible date, with the results to be released by the end of October.

The move comes after members of the society triggered a non-binding vote earlier this year that effectively overturned the benchers' April decision to accredit the new law school at the Fraser Valley university.

On Friday morning, the benchers also rejected two other motions — to adopt the results of the previous all-members vote or to wait for the courts to decide the matter.

The law school, which is due to open in 2016, has come under fire because of the Christian covenant TWU students must sign. The covenant states that sexual relations are to be confined within the bounds of a marriage between a man and a woman.

Critics say that discriminates against anyone involved in an LGBTQ relationship.

Other provinces have also weighed in on Trinity Western University:

The Law Society of Upper Canada in Ontario voted against approving the law school earlier this spring.

The Nova Scotia Barristers' Society granted conditional acceptance if the school changes the covenant for law students or allows them to opt out.

Trinity Western has launched a court action challenging those decisions.

Trinity Western University was given approval for its law school program by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada in December 2013. The federation said it would be up to provincial law societies to decide whether or not they would recognize degrees from the school.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/law-society-of-b-c-to-hold-binding-referendum-on-trinity-western-law-school-1.2778849