Andrew Wayne Willis

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

The Attorney was a former owner of a property in Mount Atlas, St. Andrew, which VMBS acquired by foreclosure in 2012 and sold to the Complainant in 2021. After the Complainant obtained letters of possession and was registered as proprietor, the Attorney resisted her efforts to take possession, persuaded police and security personnel that she had no right to access the property, and engaged in confrontations. He relied on a Supreme Court claim against VMBS (to which the Complainant was not a party) that had already failed in both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. The Panel found the Attorney guilty of professional misconduct under Canon I(b), holding that his actions to protect property rights that did not exist were egregious and likely to bring the profession into disrepute. No express finding of dishonesty was made (the finding was that he failed to conduct himself with the highest level of professional integrity). Sanction was deferred to a later date for a mitigation hearing per the Owen Clunie procedure; no fine or costs were stated.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Attorney knew or ought to have known the property rights he sought to protect did not exist
• Belated disclosure during cross-examination that his Supreme Court claim had failed and that he had also lost in the Court of Appeal
• Conduct occurred in the presence of police, security officers and members of the public