Our lawyer, Pei-Shing B. Wang 王沛翔律師, was featured in today’s World Journal, a leading commercial newspaper in the Chinese community. Following is a translation of the article:
A York University graduate who is now a practising lawyer, Pei-Shing Wang reminds individuals who would like to become lawyers that in recent years law schools have been emphasizing oral advocacy. Effective presentation skills and English fluency are both important for those who wish to become lawyers.
After one year of senior high school [in Taiwan], Pei-Shing Wang moved to Vancouver to complete his secondary school diploma in 1999. Thereafter he studied commerce at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and law at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.
Looking back, Pei-Shing Wang considers his first year of law school very challenging. “The Latin and the legal technical language were very difficult,” said Wang. To become familiar with legal writing, he relied on frequent review of the texts and diligent note taking.
When Wang first arrived at law school, he faced the vast difference between the continental [Taiwanese] law system and the common law system. He managed to let go of concepts not applicable to the common law so he could start again with an open mind, as if learning a second language.
After graduation from law school, lawyer candidates must pass the bar exam and article for 10 months before they are licensed. During the licensing process, the candidates must also demonstrate that they are of good character. No serious run-ins with the law are permitted.
Wang pointed out that visible minorities face additional challenges if they wish to article in major firms. The keys to securing an articling position in a major firm are good grades and fluent English.
According to Wang, an articling position in a major firm pays about $60,000 a year. Once he or she is licensed, the salary doubles or triples.
Although gaining admission to law school is difficult in itself, once the student is there he or she finds that studying law is no easy task. Fortunately, Wang was interested in studying precedents. “If you study law for money,” he said, “you will get bored easily.”
Regarding the tuition fees of $16,000 per year, Wang relied on student loans and scholarships. He recalled that although the lectures took up only about 10 hours per week, the time required to study the materials amounted to five times that much. In his second year, he chose family law, a field that members of the public can relate to. In his third year, he finished his major paper of approximately 10,000 words.
Wang reminds new immigrants that Canadian law may differ greatly from that of their native country. Newcomers to Canada are encouraged to observe the local law. For example, having an extra-marital affair would be grounds for divorce in Canada but not generally considered illegal. In Taiwan, on the other hand, adultery may be considered a crime.
Also, acceptable parenting styles may be quite different from those in immigrants’ native countries. In Canada, if parents still see their children as property and treat them as such, the authorities may become involved. Wang believes that parents should speak to their children when they misbehave.
Click on the image to view the actual file.
‘Tis the Season for Holiday Scams
Yesterday we had our first snowfall in Toronto for the season. Undoubtedly, the holidays are coming.
People are either preoccupied with the coming holidays (Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, Ashura, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day … take your pick) or are looking forward to taking time off work. No doubt, major financial institutions will also be closed for a few days, thereby delaying the clearing of cheques.
While people are otherwise occupied, scammers and fraudsters are taking advantage of the combination of bank closures and holiday distractions to defraud their victims.
Dan Pennington of LawPRO has said that bad cheque scams are on the rise and warned lawyers taking large sums of trust funds to be vigilant.* He said the scams are becoming more and more sophisticated. Some of the bad cheques could even fool bank tellers.
According to Pennington, a lawyer from St. Catharines was recently suspended for misappropriating trust funds after he was defrauded with fake cheques. The funds from the fake cheques did not clear and resulted in a shortfall in his trust account. The lawyer tried to cover the loss with other clients’ money held in trust. But the shortfall soon became too large, and the lawyer became the subject of an investigation.
In addition to bad cheque scams, “Oklahoma frauds” are resurfacing, according to Jeffrey W. Lem, a partner in the real estate group at Miller Thomson LLP.^ A recent lawsuit was brought alleging $6.5 million in damages as a result of mortgage frauds.
Lem explained in a nutshell how an Oklahoma fraud operates. A fraudster buys a piece of land for a small amount, say $10,000, in an otherwise legitimate transaction. The fraudster then flips the property to an accomplice for a grossly inflated price, say $500,000. The accomplice then goes to the lender for a mortgage against the inflated property value. Typically, the fraudsters rapidly target a single mortgage lender several times before they take off with the proceeds. The lender then is left with collateral properties worth a fraction of the mortgaged value.
*Michael McKiernan, “St. Catharines case shows pitfalls of fake cheques” Law Times (28 November 2011) 13
^Jeffrey W. Lem, “Oklahoma frauds return as scam of choice” Law Times (28 November 2011) 7
This blog is provided for your reference only and is not a substitute for the law. This article is not legal advice and should not be regarded as such.