Audley Earl Melhado

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

Attorney Earl Melhado was retained by complainant Trevor Porter to pursue a motor vehicle accident claim. He negotiated a settlement and received between J$1.56M and J$1.58M from the insurer on the client's behalf in about May 2008, but failed to account to or pay the client for approximately four years, using the funds for other purposes. The tribunal applied the criminal standard of proof and found breaches of Canon VII(b)(ii) and Canon I(b). Despite full restitution (the J$800,000 balance was eventually paid) and a plea for leniency, the panel ordered the attorney struck off the roll, with costs to the complainant and a contribution to the Council's costs. No express finding of dishonesty was made; QC noted the client had not deceived the complainant.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No improper use of client money

Aggravating factors:

• Breach particularly egregious as money was intended to compensate for losses already suffered by the client
• Funds withheld for approximately four years
• Attorney used client funds for other purposes
• Failed to respond or attend for substantial periods of the proceedings

Mitigating factors:

• Full restitution of principal and interest was made
• Attorney and complainant were friends of over 50 years
• Attorney acknowledged a want of diligence and did not dispute the complainant's evidence
• Attorney never denied receiving the money and indicated difficulty paying

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_costs_amount=130000"]