News Release
July 12, 2017

Vancouver, July 12, 2017 – The Law Society sets standards of professional responsibility for BC lawyers and articled students, and upholds those standards through a complaints and discipline process. These standards and processes are important to maintain public confidence and trust in lawyers. Accordingly, the Law Society has ordered that lawyer Sumit Ahuja of Vancouver be suspended for one month starting August 1, 2017, or when his undertaking not to practise law expires.

The Law Society found that Ahuja committed professional misconduct by misleading the court and his client about his reason for being unable to attend a hearing. Ahuja slept through his alarm and missed his flight to Kelowna to attend a hearing. That morning, he advised the court and his client that he had missed his flight due to overbooking. A day after the incident, he admitted his mistake to his firm’s partners. He also sent letters of apology to the court and to the client and self-reported the events to the Law Society.

In its decision on disciplinary action, the hearing panel considered similar past cases and Ahuja’s professional conduct record. At the hearing, Ahuja testified that when he applied for admission to the Law Society, he admitted he provided a false name to a police officer while driving under suspension. As a pre-admission requirement, he provided a letter to the Law Society’s Credentials Committee addressing the importance of truthfulness and candour for lawyers. Written reasons for the decision are available here.

The Law Society of British Columbia 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.

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For further information contact:

Vinnie Yuen
Communications Officer
604.697.5836
vyuen@lsbc.org

 

David Jordan
Communications Officer
604.443.5708
djordan@lsbc.org