𝐈𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲?

The Law Society of British Columbia recently grappled with this question in a case involving Edwin Soon, a real estate lawyer in Vancouver.

Among other things, Mr. Soon ran a private lending business through his law firm’s trust account.

Seem odd?

That’s because it is.

A lawyer’s trust account is not a business account.

It’s not a holding account.

And it’s definitely not there to make deals “look legitimate”.

But in this case, that’s exactly what it was used for.

In his own words: “everything will look proper if it goes through a lawyer”.

Here’s what it looked like for Mr. Soon 👇

⛔️ Moving money between clients like a shell game to cover losses

⛔️ Acting in transactions where he had a financial interest

⛔️ Failing to disclose material facts to lender clients

⛔️ Acting in serious conflicts of interest

⛔️ Keeping records so poor they had to be reconstructed by a forensic accountant

And while no client alleged fraud, the Law Society found Mr. Soon to have committed 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝. 

Why should this matter for lenders?

If your lawyer is:

🔎 Holding funds in trust for future deals

🔎 Moving money between transactions

🔎 Involved financially in the deal itself

You don’t have efficiency.

You have exposure.

And you may not see it until it’s too late.

In private lending, clean execution isn’t optional. 🙅‍♂️

It’s the difference between a protected investment and a 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞.