Howard A. Lettman

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

Attorney Howard Lettman was retained in February 1997 to act for the complainants on the purchase of a lot of land in Manchester. A deposit of $570,000 was paid to the vendor leaving a $230,000 balance. Over 20+ years the attorney failed to secure the registered title or provide any information on progress, despite the complainants visiting his office and two separate attorneys writing to him without response. The Committee found him guilty of professional misconduct for breach of Canon 4(r). His name was struck from the Roll and he was ordered to pay $400,000 costs ($250,000 to complainants, $150,000 to the GLC). No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• Handle inadvertently received material

Aggravating factors:

• Failed to secure registered title after 20+ years, causing severe inconvenience and additional expense to complainants
• Attorney also represented the vendor in the transaction
• Contemptuous attitude towards the complainants
• Absented himself from all hearing dates despite opportunities to appear
• Previously disbarred on six occasions for professional misconduct, including Canon 4(r) breaches in every case