Vancouver, Jan. 26, 2023 – Richmond lawyer Richard Liu has been suspended for three months after reaching a consent agreement with the Law Society to resolve complaints of professional misconduct occurring between March 2016 and June 2020.
Liu admits he committed professional misconduct related to his trust account gatekeeper duties, including failing to make reasonable inquiries about his clients, and the subject matter and objectives of his retainer, failing to provide any, or sufficient, legal services, and failing to comply with client identification and verification requirements. Liu also admits he committed professional misconduct by acting in a conflict of interest when loaning funds to his clients, where loans were processed through his trust account rather than a personal or business bank account, and by acting for lender clients without disclosing their identities to the borrowers.
While Liu’s professional misconduct is very serious, there is no evidence that Liu committed or facilitated any crime or fraud. Liu fully co-operated with the Law Society in this matter and does not have a prior professional conduct record. Liu apologized to the Law Society for his misconduct and has begun implementing measures to ensure compliance with his professional obligations going forward.
The suspension starts on Feb. 1, 2023.
The full summary can be read here.
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For further information contact:
communications@lsbc.org