Charles Anthony Sinclair Jnr.

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

Attorney Charles Sinclair was retained about 8-9 years earlier and paid $40,000 to obtain a Certificate of Title for lands in Westmoreland, but never completed the work despite repeated enquiries by the complainant and his daughter over years. The Panel proceeded in the attorney's absence and found beyond reasonable doubt breaches of Canons IV(r) and IV(s) for failing to act with expedition and for inexcusable neglect. It ordered restitution of $40,000 plus 10% interest and a fine of $300,000, payable forthwith. No express finding of dishonesty.

Duties found breached:

• Overriding duty to the court
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Ignored/refused to respond to the complaint filed with the Disciplinary Committee
• Failed to attend any hearing
• Refused to return client's documents