When the resident of the city of Quebec, Philippe Vézina, he noticed that the cedar that the planks around his eight -year -old pool began to rot, contacted the manufacturer.
But Trévi, a Quebec pool company, simply offered a discount on spare parts, and that was not enough in regard to Vézina. He joined a Facebook group with about 60 members, all complaining about the same problem.
“We started chatting about it and we quickly realized the scale of the problem with Trévi,” he said.
Little knew he was about to embark on a benevolence trip, helping other pools owners to fight the company. But that trip took him to Agua Caliente. It was fined $ 7,500 for illegally practicing the law.
The situation dates back to an October 2022 segment transmitted by Radio-Canadá The invoice television program. He highlighted the purchase of a couple of a $ 19,000 group that deteriorated in just five years.
In the segment, the president of Trévi, Benoît Hudon, recognized the issue, saying: “The pools have premature clothes, especially after 2012.”
The Facebook group wins traction
The segment caused the Vézina Facebook group, Ma Piscine in Cèdre Er Pourrie! (My cedar pool is rotten!), To grow significantly. He was the group administrator and became deeply involved, loving voluntary work.
“The questions and emails arrived, I felt overwhelmed, but I was delighted to see what could come from that,” he said.
He spent countless hours helping group members to promote Trévi to assume responsibility and provide fair compensation for their pools.
Then, Vézina received a surprising call from Hudon, who invited him to a meeting. The meeting was productive, and Vézina signed a confidential agreement resolving his claim.
Hudon also proposed that Vézina signed a committed document to help other members reach fair settlements while limiting their role to being a proactive moderator that facilitates communication.
“It was the voice of Trévi’s clients who had had bad experiences with their pools, and that’s,” Vézina said.
Vézina shared the agreement with the Facebook group and summed up the meeting. He had no idea that signing this document would mark the beginning of his legal problems.
Quebec bar launches research
Only a few days later, the Quebec lawyers association, BARREAU DU QUBECHe received an anonymous complaint accusing Vézina of practicing the law without a license. This triggered an investigation. Vézina’s Facebook group infiltrated and her activities analyzed.
Trévi began issuing liquidation offers to pools owners. As Vézina knew the amount of several offers, he encouraged some clients to seek better compensation.
“I could tell someone: ‘No, you don’t accept that, it makes no sense.’ Some were offered $ 600 for their pool. But it wasn’t my job negotiating.
In November 2022, after his investigation, the Bar Association concluded that Vézina had exceeded. He was ordered to stop performing any act reserved for lawyers immediately. He was accused of acting as an intermediary to solve claims related to Cedros groups, which constituted an unauthorized legal practice.
Vézina ruled out, believing that she was simply facilitating communication between Trévi and group members. As regards him, he never claimed to be a lawyer.
“For me, it is clear that a lawyer is someone who is paid to investigate, present complaints and talk to the judges. He was not doing any of that. He was just helping,” he said.
He published in the Facebook group, reiterating that he was not a lawyer. But it is not so simple, according to Sylvie Champagne, director of Legal Affairs in the BARREAU DU QUBEC.
“Practicing the law illegally is not just about claiming to be a lawyer. It is much broader than that,” Champagne explained.
Even if someone explicitly states that he is not a lawyer, to give legal advice still constitutes an unauthorized practice, he said.
List possible options is fine
Claudia Bérubé, lawyer and professor at the Sherbrooke University, said it is acceptable to describe the possible options for a legal problem without suggesting a specific course of action.
“If he says: ‘I could go to mediation, make another offer or go to the court of small claims,’ it is only listing possible options. That is legal information, which is allowed,” said Bérubé.
“But cannot advise someone to take specific legal action or use certain arguments to affirm their rights, that is legal advice.”
Finally, the bar launched litigation against Vézina, and was ordered to pay $ 7,500. Vézina states that he could not defend himself because he never received the judicial summons. He later tried to revoke the sentence, but his request was denied.
Trévi said that the agreement signed by Vézina was destined to formalize her role as a mediator, not authorize him to perform legal tasks. Trévi received a warning of the regulatory body.
“It is a shame that this man, who offered his time and effort as a volunteer, received penalized for unauthorized legal practice,” Bérubé said. “We should celebrate this type of civic initiative.”
But, he added, the next step in such cases would be to consult a lawyer who can represent the group in a collective claim.
In spite of everything, Vézina is still committed to helping others.
“I still think you can help people voluntarily without getting into trouble. You just have to follow the rules and be careful with what you say,” he said.
Meanwhile, Trévi claims to have solved more than 98 percent of the problems with cedar pools, offering personalized solutions for each case.
