People are posing as fake lawyers and it’s a big problem | Your Morning

0:00
it’s a disturbing practice happening
0:01
across the country people posing as
0:03
lawyers and duping clients out of
0:05
hundreds of thousands of dollars eight
0:07
people have been caught doing this in BC
0:09
just this month so we’ve got Tanya
0:11
Walker a real lawyer and she’s been
0:13
following this story closely she’s here
0:14
today ten thanks for coming in thank you
0:16
for having me I think this honestly
0:18
sounds like a story out of suits yeah
0:19
this is what the whole show is based off
0:21
of how common is this and are certain
0:24
types of people more susceptible to this
0:25
yes it’s quite common online
0:28
it’s said that it 1 billion dollars
0:30
worth of fake degrees are purchased each
0:33
year 1 billion 1 billion dollars of fake
0:36
degrees all degrees not just a lot of
0:38
degrees Wow purchase every year and I
0:40
think that the most vulnerable segments
0:42
of the population are baby boomers aging
0:44
people because they don’t may not as be
0:47
as well tuned and stick with technology
0:49
as younger the younger generation and
0:51
also immigration people who want to
0:54
immigrate to Canada they don’t live here
0:56
and they want someone here to a system
0:58
to get to this country absolutely
0:59
someone who’s less familiar with the
1:01
laws and the rules here in Canada could
1:03
easily be manipulated into thinking
1:05
something is legit when it isn’t right
1:07
and it’s difficult for them to verify
1:09
the person’s credentials because they
1:10
just don’t know especially if there’s a
1:12
language barrier you just see the
1:13
opportunity that criminals are finding
1:15
so what kind of damage can a fake lawyer
1:17
do a lot so one thing is that you the
1:21
judgment is not automatically overturned
1:23
because you’re represented by a fake
1:24
lawyer you have to demonstrate that
1:26
there was a miscarriage of justice and
1:28
if there wasn’t a miscarriage of justice
1:30
like the fact the facts weren’t
1:32
presented properly the judgment still
1:34
stands also with lawyers if there’s an
1:37
issue with them you can report that
1:39
person to the Law Society get
1:40
compensation up to five hundred thousand
1:43
or sue that lawyer we’re all covered by
1:45
the same insurer and Ontario law Pro and
1:47
you could get a judgment for a few
1:50
million dollars that is paid by an
1:52
insurer you can’t do that with a fake
1:53
lawyer so all a judge does for you when
1:56
you win is right that you’ve won it’s up
1:58
to you to collect right so if you the
2:00
person doesn’t have any assets or is
2:02
purporting to be a lawyer
2:03
you’re out of luck are you serious very
2:06
that is unreal because you just can and
2:08
you can see how intimidating that whole
2:10
system would be for someone who is just
2:12
trying to get help
2:13
who needed a lawyer in the first place
2:14
and now they’ve got to fight this uphill
2:16
battle to to get their money back it’s
2:19
really not fair it’s a privilege to be a
2:20
lawyer in this country and I don’t like
2:22
that people are taking advantage of the
2:24
vulnerable population okay so how do you
2:26
spot a fake well you should verify the
2:29
person’s credentials so if the person
2:30
has a website with a bunch of stock
2:32
photos try and see if you can take a few
2:34
minutes to visit that person’s office
2:36
call the Law Society verify the person
2:38
is who that person is be a little bit
2:41
suspicious if the person doesn’t have
2:42
any pictures on their website or it’s
2:44
just too good to be true also as lawyers
2:47
we’re only allowed to accept around
2:49
$7,500 in cash per file so if a lawyer
2:53
is asking you to pay cash of $50,000
2:55
that should send a red flag to you the
2:57
red flag right away Tenny thank you so
2:59
much for coming in thank you for having
3:00
me
3:00
hey thanks for watching if you like this
3:03
be sure to subscribe here or you can
3:05
check out more your morning videos right
3:07
here