W. Anthony Pearson
Allegation / charges
Fined | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered April 20, 2022. || Guilty of Misconduct in a Professional Respect | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered February 28, 2022 || Formal Order (PDF) View PDF in Full Screen View Formal Order …
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
The Attorney, W. Anthony Pearson, represented the Complainant in efforts to enforce a 1991 Supreme Court judgment arising from a motor vehicle accident. The Committee found that after pursuing enforcement (including contempt proceedings and dealing with the deaths of the original debtor and the executor), the Attorney failed to continue acting on the matter after learning of Joe Watt's death, placing the Complainant at a serious disadvantage in recovering compensation. The Attorney was found guilty of professional misconduct for breaching Canon IV(r) and Canon VIII(d). He made no plea in mitigation. He was fined J$600,000 (payable to the GLC and directed to the Complainant) and ordered to pay costs of J$250,000, payable within 90 days.
Duties found breached:
- Good faith and courtesy to colleagues
- No baseless or threatened misconduct report
- Uphold public trust in the profession
Aggravating factors:
- The Attorney abandoned the matter after coming far in pursuing the claim, placing the Complainant at serious disadvantage in recovering his badly needed compensation
Mitigating factors:
- No fees were requested or paid by the Attorney