The hotmail account on his press release is very convincing.
http://www.abbotsfordtimes.com/issue...112204nn3.html
Legal consumers beware, warns society
By Christina Toth - Times
The Law Society of British Columbia wants to make it clear to legal consumers that John Ruiz Dempsey is not a lawyer.
"He is not a lawyer. He is not a member of the Law Society of B.C.," said Brad Daisley, public affairs officer for the society. He said Dempsey should not be representing himself as a lawyer, nor should he be taking fees for legal services. Such actions are prohibited by the Legal Profession Act.
Daisley said the society is investigating complaints made against Dempsey and his involvement in three cases. But because he is not a lawyer, the society has no regulatory power over him, Daisley said Monday.
"We're reviewing the situation and we haven't decided yet what to do," he said.
One of the cases under law society review is a class action suit filed this fall, involving Mission resident Lynda Parrish as the primary plaintiff, against the province of British Columbia for claims of abuses and neglect while she was in the care of Willingdon School for Girls. She alleges she was physically, sexually and emotionally abused and had a baby taken away from her.
Another class action suit also filed this fall names Abbotsford resident Dan Larsen as the primary plaintiff, who claims physical and sexual abuse and negligence by the B.C. government while he was in Brannan Lake School for Boys. After years of alleged abuses and no education, he was sterilized to control his tendency to escape.
A third case involves a class action suit against the B.C. Ministry of Revenue by Burnaby resident Daniela Gabric and Richmond resident Malkait Dosanjh.
The women are seeking reimbursement of money they paid to Victoria for defaulting on their sponsorship commitments to support their immigrant family members.
However, that case is on hold. Victoria is questioning the women's legal counsel, Dempsey, since he is not a practising lawyer.
Charan Gill, executive director of the Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society, which is supporting the women's class action suit, said Victoria told them Dempsey could not represent them as he was a not a practising lawyer nor a member of the British Columbia Law Society.
In 2004, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled Dempsey as a vexatious litigant, saying he "persistently and without reasonable grounds instituted vexatious legal proceedings in the Supreme Court." The Appeal Court ordered him to stop filing writs against Nigel and Sharon Peart and other parties. Dempsey cannot take legal action against those parties unless he is granted permission by a judge.
Parrish, meanwhile, has ended her contact with Dempsey and is hoping a lawyer will take up the case. She said she is being contacted by more women who had been in Willingdon.
"I want to see this through. It's not just for me but for all the girls," she said last week.