Leighton O. Miller

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

The Attorney, while a student in 1999, bought a car for his uncle (the Complainant) with the Complainant's money; it was registered in the Attorney's name and stolen in 2000. After the insurance claim was rejected, the Complainant sued and obtained default judgment of $685,681.00 plus 6% interest in 2004. The Attorney failed to settle, leading to a 2009 complaint. He gave a written professional undertaking (30 July 2011) to pay $200,000 to the GLC (which he paid) and the balance to the Complainant by 31 Oct 2011 (which he did not). The Panel found beyond reasonable doubt breaches of Canon 1(b) and Canon VI(c). It ordered restitution of $466,953.41 plus interest, a 36-month suspension continuing until payment, and $20,000 costs. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Attorney failed to comply despite several adjournments offered to settle the judgment and undertaking
• Attorney did not attend the hearing to explain non-compliance
• Registered notice of hearing was not claimed and no one appeared on his behalf

Mitigating factors:

• The transaction giving rise to the judgment occurred before the Attorney's enrollment, while he was a student
• The Attorney made some payments (totaling $570,000.00)