Ano Maggielin Miller Sewell

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

The Complainant engaged the Attorney to represent her in the purchase of a property and paid her a total of $57,661,865.00 plus $1,150,000 in legal fees. The Attorney failed to pay over $37,392,000 of the purchase price to the Vendor's Attorney (nor gave an acceptable undertaking), leading to cancellation of the Agreement for Sale, and failed to account for that sum or refund it. The Attorney also ceased communicating with the Complainant since July 2024. The Attorney did not respond, filed no affidavit, and did not attend; the Panel proceeded in her absence on affidavit evidence. Applying the beyond-reasonable-doubt standard, the Panel found breaches of Canon 4(r) (twice) and Canon VII(b)(ii), and found her guilty of professional misconduct. No breach of Canon VI(d) was found (no professional undertaking given). Sanction was deferred to allow the Attorney to address the Panel.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• No improper use of client money