Carleen McFarlane

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

Attorney Carleen McFarlane appealed the Disciplinary Committee's finding that she breached Canon IV(s) by paying a full deposit refund (from funds belonging to the complainant) solely to the co-purchaser, Ms Thompson, without the complainant's instructions, based on an unreasonable interpretation of an 'and/or' answer in her questionnaire. The Court of Appeal held there was ample evidence the complainant had made known the deposit was his money, that no ostensible/implied agency authorised paying out the trust money, and that this single critical error amounted to inexcusable or deplorable negligence rather than a mere slip. The court expressly noted the case concerned negligent conduct, not dishonesty. The appeal was dismissed and the Committee's order for restitution of J$350,000 and costs of J$300,000 was affirmed, with costs of the appeal awarded to the respondent.

Duties found breached:

• No improper use of client money

Aggravating factors:

• Mishandling of client's trust money, which the law treats with particular seriousness