News Release
December 10, 2018

The Law Society of British Columbia acts to protect the public against individuals who hold themselves out to be lawyers when they are not.

From September 6 to November 15, 2018, the Law Society obtained written commitments from four individuals and businesses to stop engaging in unauthorized practice of law. If they break their promise, the Law Society may obtain a court order against them. These individuals and businesses put the public at risk by performing unregulated and uninsured legal services or misrepresenting themselves as lawyers.

During that time period, the Law Society also obtained orders prohibiting the following individuals and business from engaging in the unauthorized practice of law:

On or about September 25, 2018, Carlos Diligenti, of Vancouver, and his company Diligenti Consulting Group, consented to an order permanently prohibiting him from engaging in the practice of law for a fee. The Law Society alleged that Diligenti, in his capacity as a business consultant, provided clients with various legal services for a fee and prosecuted several proceedings in Provincial and Supreme Court on behalf of litigants.

On or about October 9, 2018, Vassy Bryant, of Comox, and her company Vassy Bryant Immigration and Legal Consulting, Bryant Consulting and bryantlegalconsulting.ca, consented to an order prohibiting her from engaging in the practice of law. The Law Society alleged that Bryant represented herself as a lawyer and purported to provide legal services to a client for a fee, and improperly referred to herself as a lawyer and offered legal services on her website. Bryant agreed to pay $2,500 in restitution.

On November 9, 2018, Madam Justice Maisonville granted an injunction prohibiting O’Neil Constantine Parchment, of Port Alberni, from engaging in the practice of law. The Court found that Parchment, a vexatious litigant, breached the Legal Profession Act by commencing and prosecuting habeas corpus proceedings on behalf of three incarcerated clients and by representing himself as a prisoners’ legal advocate.

To read the orders, search by name in the Law Society’s database of unauthorized practitioners.
 

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For further information contact:

David Jordan

Communications Officer
604.697.5836
djordan@lsbc.org