Charles Anthony Sinclair Jnr.

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

The complainant retained Mr. Sinclair 8-9 years prior, paying $40,000 to obtain a Certificate of Title for lands in Westmoreland. Despite repeated visits by the complainant and his daughter over the years (2003-2008), no Title was obtained and the attorney refused to return the documents. The attorney did not respond to the complaint and failed to attend any hearing. The Panel proceeded in his absence and found beyond reasonable doubt that he breached Canon IV(r) (failure to act with due expedition) and Canon IV(s) (inexcusable neglect). It ordered restitution of $40,000 with 10% annual interest from 20 September 2000, plus a fine of $300,000 ($250,000 to the complainant, $50,000 to the General Legal Council). No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• Overriding duty to the court
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Attorney ignored/refused to respond to the complaint
• Attorney failed to attend any hearing despite proper service
• Attorney refused to return the client's documents
• Lengthy delay of approximately 8-9 years