Gregory M.D. Lopez

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

The attorney represented the complainant in the 2006 sale of property for JMD 1,650,000. The sale completed in January 2014 with a balance of JMD 1,504,000 owed to the complainant. The attorney misappropriated the client's funds and repeatedly failed to account, eventually closing his office and leaving no forwarding address. By the date of complaint, JMD 654,000 remained outstanding. The attorney admitted he could not pay and only repaid the outstanding sum in three installments after hearings commenced (JMD 200,000 on 24 Sept 2016, JMD 200,000 on 8 Dec 2016, JMD 254,000 on 12 Jan 2017). Applying the criminal standard of proof, the panel found dishonesty established and the attorney guilty of professional misconduct. No sanction is stated in this text.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No improper use of client money
• Report serious misconduct of others

Aggravating factors:

• Misappropriation of client funds
• Client deprived of money since January 2014
• Attorney closed office leaving no forwarding address
• No attempt to repay until the hearing commenced; payments only made after multiple adjournments
• Conduct stained the reputation of the profession

Mitigating factors:

• Full repayment of the outstanding JMD 654,000 was eventually made in three installments during the proceedings