Shaun A. Reynolds

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

The complainant retained the attorney Shaun Reynolds in around 1996 to handle the purchase of two lots of land. The complainant paid substantial sums to the attorney (and directly to vendors) for the purchases, but neither sale was completed and no titles were ever registered in the complainant's name. The attorney could not explain how he dealt with the funds, never accounted to the complainant, rendered no statement of account, and made no refunds. The panel preferred the complainant's credible evidence over the prevaricating attorney. It found the charges proven beyond reasonable doubt under Canons iv(r), vii(b) and i(b), constituting professional misconduct under s.12(4) of the Legal Profession Act. Given four prior findings of misconduct, the panel ordered restitution of $2,687,545.00 with 10% interest, struck the attorney off the Roll, and awarded $50,000.00 costs. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Handle inadvertently received material
• Prompt accounting and return of money
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Four prior findings of professional misconduct by the Disciplinary Committee
• Acted for both vendor and purchaser in both transactions
• Failed to complete sales from 1996 and never delivered titles
• Unable to account for funds entrusted; produced no supporting documentation despite ample opportunity