Former Castlegar lawyer Christopher R.J. Cook has admitted to professional misconduct, and has agreed not to apply for reinstatement for six months.
Between 2015 and 2016, Cook acted for a buyer of a real estate property. According to an agreed statement of facts, during this time Cook filed forms with the Land Title Office purportedly executed by the seller’s representative under power of attorney when he knew or ought to have known that the power of attorney had expired, that the individual with power of attorney had not executed the forms before him or at all, and that Cook did not have the original signed documents in his possession. The forms purported to transmit property from one co-owner of the property to another when both were deceased, and attached a statutory declaration that had been created for another purpose. In addition, Cook failed to advise a second client, a bank, about the problems with the conveyance, and represented to a notary acting for the seller that he had witnessed a signature when he had not.
Cook became a former member of the Law Society when he resigned in the face of discipline on October 31, 2018. The Law Society’s discipline committee has accepted Cook’s admission of professional misconduct and his undertaking not to apply for reinstatement for a period of six months, starting November 9, 2018. The agreed statement of facts can be found by searching the Law Society’s online decision and admissions database.
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For further information contact:
David Jordan
Communications Officer
604.443.5708
djordan@lsbc.org