M. Melbourne Silvera

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

The attorney received a personal injury settlement cheque of $318,575.00 in January 1996 on behalf of his client, of which $248,304.50 was due to her after fees. He failed to pay her over many months, gave excuses, and improperly disbursed (converted) her funds without authority, telling her he had used the money. He only paid the principal plus 20% interest ($302,591.35) to her new attorneys in July 1997, just before the hearing. The Committee found, beyond reasonable doubt, that his conduct was disgraceful, dishonourable, and unbecoming, amounting to professional misconduct of the gravest kind. The Committee expressly noted that even absent fraudulent intent, purporting to borrow and later refunding client funds does not exonerate the attorney. His name was struck from the roll under s.12(4) of the Legal Profession Act.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No improper use of client money

Aggravating factors:

• Attorney of nearly 40 years' experience who knew client funds are trust funds
• Failed to respond to multiple letters from the client's new attorneys (July 1996, August 1996, September 1996, March 1997)
• Only paid over the funds just before appearing before the Council
• Misapplied/converted client funds without authority

Mitigating factors:

• Eventually refunded the principal sum with 20% interest
• Tribunal noted there may have been no fraudulent intent