Maurice Frankson

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

Attorney Maurice Frankson was retained in April 2007 to pursue a personal injury claim arising from a 2007 motor vehicle accident on behalf of Blossom Vassel. He filed the first claim in February 2009 but could not effect service; he wrongly concluded the claim was statute-barred and offered a personal settlement of $500,000, then filed a fresh claim in May 2012. He filed an application to extend time for service and for substituted service on 3 May 2013 but failed to attend the 4 November 2013 hearing and took no remedial steps for over three years. The Panel found beyond reasonable doubt that he failed to act with due expedition, failed to keep the client informed, and acted with inexcusable/deplorable negligence, in breach of Canons I(b), IV(r), IV(s) and VIII(d). No dishonesty was alleged or found. Sanction was deferred pending a mitigation hearing.

Duties found breached:

• Overriding duty to the court
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No conflict between current clients
• Report serious misconduct of others

Aggravating factors:

• Lengthy and unexplained periods of inactivity (22 months before filing first claim; gaps in 2010-2011, 2011-2012, and 2013-2016)
• Allowed first claim form to lapse without service
• Mistakenly concluded claim was statute-barred and offered personal settlement of $500,000
• Failed to attend the hearing of the application for extension of time on 4 November 2013 without arranging representation or notifying the court
• Did nothing for over three years to rectify the missed hearing
• Failed to provide client with requested documents and information despite repeated requests
• Claim now likely statute barred

Mitigating factors:

• Difficulty in locating and effecting personal service on the defendants was not entirely the Attorney's fault