B.C. woman permanently banned from providing legal services after allegedly posing as a lawyer

A Surrey, B.C., woman accused of posing as a lawyer and getting a client to cook and clean in exchange for legal services has agreed to a permanent ban on engaging in the practice of law.

Jasmeet Dhaliwal, also known as Jasmeet Kaur Aujla, has never been qualified as a lawyer. She signed a B.C. Supreme Court consent order last month, agreeing that she will not hold herself out as one or provide legal services unless she becomes a member in good standing of the Law Society of B.C.

The consent order says that Dhaliwal and her company Global Unity Consulting Corporation, also known as Smart Connect, are permanently prohibited from acting as counsel, drafting legal documents or giving legal advice. It specifies that Dhaliwal cannot call herself "vakil" a Punjabi word for lawyer.

The order comes after the law society filed a petition alleging that Dhaliwal had been charging clients for legal services ranging from immigration claims to family disputes.

In an affidavit filed alongside the petition, a former client says she did 140 hours of cleaning and cooking for Dhaliwal's family in exchange for help with several legal matters, only to find that no work had been done on her files.

The affidavit alleged that when the client asked about the status of a family law matter four months after making the agreement, Dhaliwal threatened her.

"Ms. Dhaliwal would not give me any update and instead told me not to return to the house or office. She threatened me with her dogs, saying that they would bite me if I ever came back," the former client wrote.

"Ms. Dhaliwal ignored my phone calls after that."

Dhaliwal previously told CBC that the client's complaint was false.

Similar allegations raised in 2 small claims cases

Allegations that Dhaliwal has posed as a lawyer were also raised in a recent dispute at the Civil Resolution Tribunal, where certain small claims cases are heard.

Using the name Jasmeet Aujla, Dhaliwal had filed a dispute against a landlord who'd contacted Global Unity to obtain a court order to evict a tenant, but allegedly never paid her for her services. The landlord counter-sued, claiming that Dhaliwal hadn't provided the service she'd promised, and that she'd pretended to be a lawyer.

In a Nov. 27 decision dismissing both claims, tribunal member Christopher Rivers wrote that the work Dhaliwal had agreed to do fell under the definition of the practice of law.

"By practising law while not a lawyer, Ms. Aujla was not acting in good faith. As such, I find she is not entitled to recover any fees for that work," the decision says.

A 2022 small claims lawsuit against Dhaliwal and Global Consulting raised similar allegations. A man who says he paid her a $2,500 retainer to help him secure Canadian citizenship and handle a custody dispute with his ex-wife alleged Dhaliwal did no work on the file in 22 months.

Dhaliwal told CBC that the legal claim was being settled out of court.