Carlton H. Campbell

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

Attorney was retained in 1992 to obtain probate of Nathaniel Adams' will, was paid $5,500 (fully paid 1995) and given the original will, but 15 years later probate was not obtained and the will was apparently lost. The Committee found the attorney withdrew from employment without notice or returning documents, in breach of Canon IV(o), and found him guilty of professional misconduct. He was fined $100,000 payable to the complainant, ordered to pay $40,000 costs to the General Legal Council and $10,000 costs to the complainant for travelling. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• No baseless or threatened misconduct report
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• 15 years elapsed since retainer paid and will delivered without obtaining probate
• Absence of communication with client
• Original will lost
• Attorney repeatedly failed to attend hearings

Mitigating factors:

• Belated efforts to retrieve/prove the copy will
• Attorney's illness (heart and lung condition, hospitalization)
• Attorney paid earlier costs awarded

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_costs_amount=50000"]