The Law Society of BC has found business and immigration lawyer Hong Guo committed professional misconduct by failing to provide competent legal services and engaging in conflicts of interests with her clients, following a complex investigation that she did not fully cooperate with.
In response to the misconduct allegations, Guo claimed her professional work was acceptable, as it met her clients’ expectations in the cultural context in which she was practicing. The society’s executive team noted Guo’s statistical analysis of Asian lawyers and discipline action against them was flawed, in part because it was based on last names. Nevertheless, the society noted non-racialized men were roughly on par with Asian women for facing discipline action.What did Hong Guo do? The Dec. 12, 2018 citation concerned Guo’s legal handling of business deals.
The citation is connected to allegations laid out in a civil claim by Jun Yuan against Guo, Guo Law Corp., and M & K Sawmills Ltd. Guo testified that because it may take years between first submitting a proposal and business plan to BCPNP and final approval or rejection of the client for immigration, certain proposals could be used multiple times and then withdrawn, changed or resubmitted during the waiting period.