A lawyer has been banned from practicing law for one year after
taking 350,000 yuan (US$42,000) from a patient with
schizophrenia.
Li Kun, the director of Jiuzhong Law Firm in Beijing, was handed
the ban by the city's Municipal Bureau of Justice on January
19.
The announcement was made two days later by the bureau at a
conference reviewing supervision of the legal profession.
"As a professional lawyer working for a professional legal
service organization, Li should have been aware that the matter
brought to her by the client had no basis in reality," said bureau
Vice Director Geng Jingyi.
Three other lawyers also had their licenses revoked.
The bureau is responsible for supervising lawyers and legal
service organizations in Beijing and punishing them when they are
found to be involved in malpractice.
Their findings can be appealed against and in fact it can itself
also be taken to court.
Li's punishment was handed down following advice from the
Beijing Municipal Lawyers Association.
She and her law firm had already received eight complaints by
different litigants last year, for which they have received public
denunciations.
Neither Li nor the firm would comment yesterday.
The Beijing Times reported that Li sued the lawyers
association late last year at Beijing's Haidian District People's
Court for damage to her reputation.
There were 9,300 practicing lawyers in Beijing by the end of
last year, 1,400 more than in 2003, according to the bureau.
Beijing had more than 840 legal service organizations, including
730 local ones and 72 offices set up by overseas law firms.
(China Daily January 24, 2005)