The Barbados Bar Association (BBA) has described as troubling a High Court ruling that found an attorney misappropriated a client’s money, saying the findings raise “serious issues concerning professional standards”.
In a landmark ruling, Justice Shona Griffith exercised her power under Section 19(2) of the Legal Profession Act, directing the Registrar to file a formal complaint with the BBA’s Disciplinary Committee following a civil suit in which attorney Susanna Thompson was ordered to repay over $141 000 held in escrow for a client.
The matter arose when Thompson was entrusted with funds from a joint account by Donna Gittens to be held pending the administration of Gittens’s late grandmother’s estate. But when issues arose, Gittens asked for the money to be returned, but Thompson failed to do so.
The judge determined that Thompson’s assertion of having lawfully disbursed the funds was unsupported by evidence. The attorney was also found to have made false claims regarding court proceedings as a means to rationalise the delays in repayment.
The judge said: “The conduct arising out of this hearing which the court finds that it is obliged to cause the Registrar to act under section 19(1) of the Legal Profession Act, includes the defendant’s failure to return the sum $141 792.25 to the claimant and failure to satisfactorily account for that money; agreeing with the claimant to misrepresent and on her case — indeed misrepresenting to a third parties that she was the attorney-at-law for the deceased; producing and/or uttering a false court document; and sustaining the misrepresentation to the claimant about the existence and conduct of fictitious court proceedings, for almost three years.”
In Justice Griffith’s view, the court would be in dereliction of its duty if it ignored the “serious improprieties” raised in respect of Thompson’s conduct.
In a release issued to the media on Friday, the BBA stated that it respected the court as the ultimate arbiter of fact and law: “In those circumstances and given that the matter may soon fall within either the appellate court, or the jurisdiction of the Disciplinary Committee established under the Legal Profession Act, the BBA will refrain from commenting on the merits of the judgment rendered by the learned judge.”
But it added: “We are also cautious about expressing any views that could prejudice any appellate process or potential proceedings before the Disciplinary Committee, which is the body statutorily charged with addressing matters of professional discipline.
“The findings outlined in the judgment raise serious issues concerning professional standards. If upheld, such findings would engage core principles of integrity, honesty, accountability, and the fiduciary duties owed by Attorneys-at-Law to their clients. The BBA has written to the Registrar to inquire whether there has been compliance with the Order of the Court and whether the steps directed in the judgment have been taken.”
The Bar outlined that it remained committed to “upholding the integrity and standards of the legal profession in Barbados and will allow the relevant legal and statutory processes to take their course”.
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