Raphael Bishop

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

The Complainant's father died in a fatal accident about 22 years earlier and attorney Raphael Bishop was entrusted with a fatal accident claim. Over the years Bishop gave the Complainant sums of money via her mother but after the mother's death in 1999 he provided no information about the claim's progress and failed to respond to a letter from another attorney. The Panel found Bishop breached Canon IV(r) by failing to pursue the claim with expedition and failing to provide information. He was fined $150,000 (with $100,000 to the Complainant and $50,000 retained by the GLC), ordered to bear the cost of an investigation into his books, and to pay $30,000 costs. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• Failed to respond to the complaint
• Failed to attend the hearing or mention dates
• Provided no information to the client or to the Panel