Sean Garvin Moses Osbourne

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

The Complainant retained the Respondent attorney for several property purchases (Mountain View, Ebony Vale, Hampton Green), none of which completed. She paid JMD 547,500.00 (JMD 100,000 retainer plus JMD 447,500 deposit and half costs) for the Ebony Vale transaction. After transactions failed and she demanded her money back, the Respondent unilaterally transferred the entire sum from his trust account to his business account as fees, despite no agreed fee arrangement for Ebony Vale and Hampton Green. The Panel found the Respondent was at most entitled to claim a lien over the JMD 100,000 retainer, and that he should have submitted a bill for taxation rather than unilaterally deducting fees. The Panel found the failure to account breached Canon VII(b)(ii) and found the Respondent guilty of professional misconduct. No express finding of dishonesty was made. Complaints (i) negligence and (iii) breach of accounts regulations were dismissed on a no-case submission. Sanction was deferred pending a mitigation hearing.

Duties found breached:

• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money