J. Vernon (Jonathan) Ricketts
Allegation / charges
Struck off again, Already Struck off, Restitution Ordered, Fined | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered November 08, 2008. View PDF DECISION OF THE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL LEGAL COUNCIL COMPLAINT No. 234/2006 YVONNE E. CHAMBERS VS JONATHAN VERNON RICKETTS …
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
The Attorney was retained to remove a deceased husband's name from certificates of title and to handle the sale of land. He received a $1 million deposit, failed to complete the transfer or remove the name, claimed the title and papers were stolen from his car, and never accounted to the complainant for the $1 million. The Committee found breaches of Canons IV(r), IV(s), VII(b) and I(b). Already struck off in an unrelated matter, the Attorney was ordered struck off again, to pay $1 million restitution (with 8% interest from 1 Jan 2006), a $200,000 fine to the GLC, and $10,000 costs.
Duties found breached:
- Uphold public trust in the profession
- Act only on proper, lawful instructions
- No conflict between current clients
- No improper use of client money
Aggravating factors:
- Attorney had already been struck off for an unrelated matter
Duties engaged
- Uphold public trust in the profession
- Act only on proper, lawful instructions
- Disclose material information to client
- Keep client informed and respond promptly
- No conflict between current clients
- No improper use of client money
- Prompt accounting and return of money
- Accounting records, reconciliation and reports
- Diligence and timeliness
Other decisions involving this respondent
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Documents
Source: https://www.generallegalcouncil.org/judgement/j-vernon-jonathan-ricketts-complaint-no-234-of-2006/