Keisha McDonald

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

The Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council of Jamaica found attorney Keisha McDonald in breach of Canon IV(r) (twice) and Canon VII(b)(ii) in her handling of the sale of the complainants' property. She gave misleading information about the stamping and lodging of documents, delayed payment of transfer tax/stamp duty (prioritising her own fee), and overcharged fees beyond the agreed J$60,000. The panel found no inexcusable negligence regarding the lost cheque and made no express finding of dishonesty. She was fined J$80,000 and ordered to pay restitution of J$200,000 and J$142,000 to the complainants.

Duties found breached:

• Costs and fee transparency to client
• Handle inadvertently received material

Aggravating factors:

• Placed her own interest in collecting her fee ahead of the clients' interest by paying only part of the duties owed
• Withheld information about the lost manager's cheque for approximately 11 days

Mitigating factors:

• Longstanding friendship with complainant led her to charge a substantially reduced fee
• No proof of misuse of client funds
• No penalty was ultimately imposed by the Stamp Office