JASMEET Dhaliwal of Surrey allegedly posed as a lawyer and got a client to clean and cook in exchange for legal services, the CBC reported this week.
Now the Law Society of B.C. has asked the court to prevent Dhaliwal, who was allegedly claiming to be a lawyer and offering all kind of legal services, including immigration claims and family disputes, to stop her.
The CBC said that according to court filings, a former client wrote in an affidavit filed in B.C. Supreme Court last week that Dhaliwal had promised to help with a family law matter last February, but when the client inquired about her case after four months, Dhaliwal threatened her.
The client claims she did 140 hours of cleaning and cooking for Dhaliwal’s family so that she could help with legal matters.
Dhaliwal told her not to come back to her house or office and ignored her phone calls, the affidavit alleges.
The former client alleges that Dhaliwal used the Punjabi word for lawyer while referring to herself, and gave her name as “Jaspreet,” the CBC reported.
It said that the law society’s registry lists Jaspreet Dhaliwal as a lawyer in good standing, and that lawyer told the CBC in a statement that she is “in no way affiliated or know the individual who has misrepresented themselves as a lawyer.”
The client said in the affidavit that she came to know about Jasmeet Dhaliwal’s real name and that she was not a lawyer when she approached a legal clinic for help.
The law society has asked for an order permanently prohibiting Dhaliwal and her company, Global Unity Consulting, from engaging in the practice of law, unless she becomes a member in good standing, the CBC reported.
It said that Dhaliwal has yet to file a response.
The CBC said that Dhaliwal denied all the allegations against her in an email to them, claiming that the complaint “was falsely brought on by someone.” She said she had contacted the law society to try to resolve the matter.
The CBC also reported that Dhaliwal faced similar allegations in a small claims lawsuit filed last December by a man who says he paid her a $2,500 retainer. However, Dhaliwal did no work on his file in 22 months. When she agreed to give him a partial refund, the cheque bounced.
The claim also says that Dhaliwal explained to “the claimant that she was a paralegal, not a lawyer.”
The CBC said that Dhaliwal told it that the claim was being settled.