Andrew Wayne Willis

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

Attorney Andrew Wayne Willis was found guilty of professional misconduct under Canon I(b) after he resisted the Complainant's lawful occupation of a foreclosed property VMBS had sold to her, misrepresenting his entitlement to police and security personnel and failing to disclose that his Supreme Court and Court of Appeal claims had failed. The panel declined to strike him off but found a fine or reprimand insufficient, imposing a 3-month suspension plus $50,000 costs to the Complainant and $50,000 costs to the GLC. The tribunal criticized his conduct as misleading and egregious but made no express finding of dishonesty.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Misrepresented facts to police and security personnel, leveraging his professional status to mislead them
• Adversely affected the Complainant, who was threatened with arrest
• Failed to disclose that the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal had ruled against him, while continuing to assert an exclusive right to occupy the property
• As experienced counsel he was or ought to have been fully aware of VMBS's and the Complainant's rights

Mitigating factors:

• 29 years in practice with no prior adverse findings
• Positive character evidence attesting to high ethical standards
• Conduct arose from a private matter rather than professional practice
• Substantial financial loss suffered by the Attorney
• Ultimately vacated the property and expressed remorse

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_costs_amount=100000", "review_dishonesty_finding_cue_present"]