Two weeks after he worked to convince an arbitrator that his brother should be removed from the Lower Kootenay Band Council, Robert Louie Jr. got a legal smack-down of his own in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
The court, after considering a complaint against Louie by Law Society of British Columbia, that he had falsely represented himself as a lawyer to two people.
According to the Law Society of BC:
Robert William Louie, of Vancouver and Creston, consented to an order prohibiting him from representing himself as a lawyer, practising law and commencing, prosecuting and defending a proceeding in court on behalf of others. The Law Society alleged that Louie (who has a law degree, but is not a lawyer) falsely represented himself as a lawyer to two individuals and offered legal services to them for a fee. One of the complainants alleged that he paid Louie $2,700 to commence an action in Federal Court. Louie did not, in fact, commence the action, despite accepting the funds. The other complainant alleged that Louie offered to assist her with a family law matter, to prepare and file a separation agreement with the court, and to represent her in a workplace dispute for a fee. As a term of the court order, Louie must pay restitution to the complainants totalling $3,400 and the Law Society’s costs in the amount of $1,600. (March 2, 2017).
Louie, who earned a law degree but has never taken the steps necessary to practice law, is “permanently prohibited” from a number of activities “Until such time as he becomes a member of good standing of the Law Society,” according to the Consent Order issued by the Court on March 1.
He cannot conduct a list of legal activities, or represent himself as being qualified to do so, “for or in the expectation of a fee, gain or reward, direct or indirect, from the person for whom the acts are performed.”
In the hearing on February 21, Louie and his uncle, Wayne Louie, asked arbitrator Marko Vesely to remove Chief Jason Louie and Councillor Sandra Luke from office because they had been members of a previous band council that awarded themselves $5,000 bonuses. At that time, Robert Louie Jr. made it clear that he is not a lawyer. In his communications with the Creston Valley Advance he has not represented himself as a lawyer.