Howard A. Lettman
Allegation / charges
Struck off, Restitution Ordered | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered November 13, 2019. || Guilty of Professional Misconduct | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered July 20, 2019. View PDF View Formal Order DECISION ON SANCTION OF THE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE OF THE …
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
The attorney, having carriage of sale for the complainant's land purchase, received $834,950 as deposit, costs, stamp duty and registration fees. He inexcusably and negligently failed to send required documents to the lender, causing the loan offer to be withdrawn and the complainant to incur losses. He never appeared, filed no response, and gave no explanation for the deposit's use. The Committee found him guilty of professional misconduct in breach of Canon 1(b) and struck him off the Roll. The panel made no express finding of dishonesty. He was ordered to pay $1,536,950 restitution (deposit plus $702,000 expenses) and $300,000 costs (of which $100,000 to the complainant).
Duties found breached:
Aggravating factors:
- Failed to attend any hearing
- Filed no affidavit in response or submissions in mitigation
- No explanation for use or distribution of the deposit received
- Brought the entire legal profession into disrepute
⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_costs_amount=300000"]