Hope Marcia Ramsay-Stewart
Allegation / charges
Restitution ordered | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered May 08, 2020. || Guilty of Misconduct in a Professional Respect | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered March 07, 2020. View PDF SANCTION DECISION OF THE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL LEGAL COUNCIL …
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
The Respondent attorney Hope M. Ramsay-Stewart was found guilty of professional misconduct for breaching Canons VII(b)(ii) and I(b). Clients' funds (US$26,760.00) were stolen by cyber criminals in 2017. The tribunal expressly noted the loss was not through any dishonesty on her part, but as an attorney she owed a duty to ensure clients' money was returned. Rather than impose striking off, suspension, or a fine, the Committee ordered restitution of US$26,760.00 with 1% per annum interest, plus costs.
Duties found breached:
Aggravating factors:
- Complainants kept out of their money for over three years, which could have been avoided
- Respondent sought to blame clients rather than negotiate a compromise
- Clients were left with no alternative but to file suit (later discontinued) and incur expense
Mitigating factors:
- Loss of funds was not through any dishonesty or fraud on the Respondent's part
- Respondent did not improperly retain any funds
- Respondent had reported the matter to her insurance company