B.C. lawyer disbarred for 2nd time, ordered to pay $45K in costs - Action News
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British Columbia

B.C. lawyer disbarred for 2nd time, ordered to pay $45K in costs

Richmond, B.C., lawyer Hong Guo has been disbarred for a second time, and has been ordered to $45,497 in costs.

Hong Guo mishandled trust funds and broke conflict-of-interest, misrepresentation rules: law society tribunal

Hong Guo, a smiling East Asian woman wearing a pink blazer and glasses, is shown in a headshot.
Hong Guo in a photo from her 2018 campaign to become mayor of Richmond, B.C. She was first disbarred by a Law Society of B.C. tribunal in November 2023. (Hong Guo/Twitter)

A lawyer in British Columbia has been disbarred for a second time following a tribunal hearing panel by the provincial law society.

Hong Guo was first disbarred in November 2023 whena Law Society of B.C. panel saidshe was incapable of rehabilitating her professional conduct.

On Tuesday, the society issued a statement saying Guo has been disbarred againand has been ordered to pay $45,497 in costs.

"Guo has a lengthy and serious discipline history," the society said in its statement.

In the latest instance, the panel found Guomisappropriated and mishandled trust fundsbreaching trust accounting rulesand broke rules around conflict of interest, misrepresentation and false representation to both clients and the law society.

In its finding, the society's tribunal hearing panel said Guo, who ran for mayor of Richmond in 2018,repeatedly failed to respond to its inquiriesand, in some cases, it says she provided incorrect or misleading information.

The panel described Guo as "evasive and untruthful" and deemed her ungovernable meaning she is unwilling or unable to accept the authority and direction of the law society.

Guo could not be reached for comment.

Guo is not the first lawyer in B.C. to be disbarred multiple times.Aaron Murray Lessingwasdisbarred for a third timein 2022, in a decision that acknowledged the measure was largely symbolic.

With files from Bethany Lindsay and Akshay Kulkarni