A former Prince George lawyer has been banned from practicing in the province for five years by the B.C. Law Society for trying to bilk a handful of residential school survivors out of part of their settlements.
In two cases, Jacqueline Levesque took a 10-per-cent contingency fee from clients even though she had already received a 15-per-cent contingency from the federal government, according to an agreed statement of facts issued Friday.
In one instance, the federal government had awarded the client $196,289 as a settlement for residential school abuse and in the other, a client was awarded $67,581, both of which included the 15-per-cent contingency fee.
Levesque had based her claim to 10 per cent on agreements she had with the law firm where she was working. By the time the settlements were issued she had left the firm and took the clients with her but had no written agreement with them entitling her to the additional fee.
Levesque also admitted to making false statements to assist a client in obtaining two loans of $10,000 each, then borrowing that money from the client.
In one case, she provided documents to a lender claiming to secure the loan by assigning $12,500 of proceeds from a motor vehicle accident claim Levesque maintained she was negotiating but, in fact, did not exist.
In the other, Levesque forwarded an invoice for $10,000 to another lender which she purportedly had issued to the client for services rendered. It was enough to convince the lender to provide the money to the client in the belief the invoice was legitimate and the money would be used to pay Levesque.
However, Levesque was not entitled to issue the invoice prior to the client receiving a settlement.
Levesque then turned around and borrowed the money without advising the client to get independent legal advice, contrary to the Society's professional conduct handbook.
On the second loan, the client was also issued a promissory note to pay $12,000 from the award, which added up to $40,775. Of that total, $31,000 was an initial payment, for which Levesque did not charge the client, and a $9,775 top up, which included a 15-per-cent contingency fee from the federal government. Levesque eventually repaid the loans with interest.
Levesque also admitted to making unprofessional and rude statements about an adjudicator of residential school claims and to failing to pay another lawyer in a timely manner.
