News Release
September 07, 2021

A hearing panel of the Law Society Tribunal has ordered that Vancouver lawyer Florence Esther Louie Yen be suspended for three months. Yen’s suspension commences on September 8, 2021.

The hearing panel found Yen committed professional misconduct by permitting the use of her trust account for deposits of approximately $10 million USD and $1.27 million CAD, and then disbursing the funds without providing substantial legal services in connection with the transactions, and without making necessary inquiries, recording the results of the inquiries or recording the source of the funds.

The Law Society took the position that the disciplinary penalty for such professional misconduct should be a suspension of at least six months, emphasizing that Yen had been wilfully blind and continued to act for the client at issue without having made any reasonable inquiries. Yen submitted that a significant fine and a suspension of two weeks to three months would be appropriate given her lack of prior professional conduct record. The hearing panel determined that a three month suspension was within the range of penalties imposed in other cases involving similar misconduct.

The Law Society is seeking a review of the disciplinary penalty and will be asking the review board to impose a more significant disciplinary action. Yen is also seeking a review of the findings of professional misconduct and characterization that she was wilfully blind.

The hearing panel’s decision on facts and determination is available here and the decision on disciplinary action is available here.

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For further information contact:

Vinnie Yuen
Communications Officer
604.697.5836
vyuen@lsbc.org