Seymour George Stewart
Allegation / charges
Fined | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered November 03, 2021. || Guilty of Professional Misconduct | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered July 26, 2021. View PDF DECISION OF THE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL LEGAL COUNCIL COMPLAINT NO: 78/2020 IN THE …
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
Complainant alleged her attorney delayed six years in filing a claim on her behalf and committed various misconduct breaches. After hearing viva voce evidence, the Disciplinary Committee found Mr Stewart guilty of professional misconduct only under Canons IV(r) and IV(s). The tribunal expressly found there was no dishonesty. Considering mitigation (including the client's own delay and that the attorney paid filing costs himself), the panel imposed a fine of JMD 125,000 (split between the Complainant and the GLC) and costs of JMD 25,000 to the Complainant.
Duties found breached:
Aggravating factors:
- Six-year delay before filing the claim, considered inordinate
- Failure to follow up with the client over an extended period
Mitigating factors:
- Complainant herself delayed significantly in following up on her matter
- Attorney received no funds from the client and paid JMD 5,000 of his own money to file the claim
- Client's claim was not barred by limitation
Duties engaged
- No improper communication with the court
- Honesty
- Personal probity and fitness to practise
- Uphold public trust in the profession
- Act in the client's best interests
- Disclose material information to client
- Keep client informed and respond promptly
- Proper termination and return of instructions
- Continuity and handover of representation
- Safeguard documents and limit liens
- Competence
- Diligence and timeliness
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