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B.C. Law Society seeking to ban former Lambda lawyer

Ontario-based Saron Gebresellassi broke rules by opening office in Campbell River, petition to court alleges
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A lawyer who has represented the owner of a Prince George nightclub in a fight over two pandemic-era tickets is at odds with the Law Society of B.C.

The licensing and regulatory body for lawyers in B.C. is seeking a judge's order banning Saron Gebresellassi from practicing in the province until she becomes a member in good standing of the Society or has obtained an interjurisdictional practice permit from the LSBC

According to a petition to the court filed in late March, Gebresellassi is a practicing lawyer in Ontario, where she was called to the bar in 2014. In April 2021, she was also called to the bar in B.C. but voluntarily terminated her licence in this province 3 1/2 months later and had not been licenced by the LSBC since then.

Under a national mobility agreement, lawyers licensed in one province are allowed to temporarily practice in another, provided they meet certain conditions, the petition further states. Among them is to refrain from establishing an "economic nexus" in B.C. and Gebresellassi appeared to have broke that proviso by opening an office in Campbell River.

In her correspondence to the LSBC she provided an address in the Vancouver Island community and may have also campaigned to become the town's mayor, which has a residency requirement, the petition reads.

The LSBC sent a letter to Gebresellassi in December 2022 raising those concerns and in February 2023 asked her to provide a record of the number of days in which she provided legal services in B.C.

Under the agreement, so-called "visiting lawyers" from a reciprocating province can practice for up to 100 days in B.C. each year. For all other out-of-province lawyer, the limits are 20 days and no more than 10 cases.

Gebresellassi's response was limited to asking if the LSBC's correspondence could be provided in French. The LSBC advised it would communicate only in English and by April 2020 told Gebresellassi she was prohibited from practicing because she had failed or refused to respond to the LSBC's requests for information in a timely manner.

That did not appear to stop Gebresellassi. According to an affidavit, she represented a client after meeting her on the steps of the courthouse in Campbell River and collected a $10,000 retainer. Gebresellassi filed an application for a hearing on the matter but it did not proceed because it was filed incorrectly.

Gebresellassi, nonetheless, invoiced the client for $34,796.54, the petition alleges.

In responses filed April 30 and May 1, and with a Toronto address, Gebresellassi maintains Ontario lawyers are allowed to practice in B.C. for up to 100 days per year without a permit and, by her count, she provided five days of service in this province in 2022 and nine days in 2023. Gebresellassi also said she applied for reinstatement in late November 2023 and that the LSBC has not processed the application.

Gebresellassi does not address the matter of the office in Campbell River directly but does argue that in accordance with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, the B.C. Labour Mobility Act take supremacy over the B.C. Legal Profession Act.

For a time Gebresellassi represented Learn to Earn Bartending and Consulting Inc. The business is fighting two tickets issued by Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch in September 2021 for alleged violations of COVID-related restrictions. The tickets were issued for "dancing and congregating" at what was then known as Lambda Cabaret and now known as Club 1177 and carry fines of up to $4,300, according to the petition.

Gebresellassi had pushed to have the trial heard in French but her request was turned down because she failed to demonstrate that Learn to Earn's "sole director and officer" Linda Allen conducts her affairs in any language other than English, thus falling short of the threshold as spelt out under the Criminal Code.

According to court records, Learn to Earn was found guilty of violating both tickets on March 11, but an application under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is scheduled to be heard on June 12.