W. Anthony Pearson

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

The Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council found Attorney William Anthony Pearson guilty of professional misconduct for failing to repay $9,972,979.53 mistakenly wire-transferred to his firm by the Society (via DunnCox) in a property transaction. He had no claim of right to the money, knew it was not his, and refused to repay it even after a civil judgment and charging orders were obtained. Although the liability decision did not use the word 'dishonest,' the Panel expressly held at sanction that 'There is no doubt to this Panel that the retention of the money by the respondent was dishonestly done.' Despite strong character evidence (from retired Court of Appeal President Hon. Justice Panton and Dr. Aggrey Irons) and partial repayment of over $7 million, the Panel ordered the attorney struck from the roll and to pay costs of J$400,000 (J$200,000 to the complainant's attorneys and J$200,000 to the General Legal Council).

Duties found breached:

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

Aggravating factors:

• Failure to repay over an extended period
• Required to be sued and a judgment obtained against him, yet still failed to pay
• Charging order had to be obtained against his residence

Mitigating factors:

• Previously unblemished career / hitherto good character
• Repaid a substantial sum of over J$7 million
• Strong character evidence from Hon. Justice Panton and Dr. Aggrey Irons
• Personal stresses including marital problems, heavy workload and alcohol problem affecting his judgment
• Complainant secured by civil charging orders against property, vehicles and bank accounts