John Alexander Churchill Sinclair

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

Two complaints against attorney John Sinclair for failing to progress personal injury claims of clients injured in a 1995 truck accident. The Disciplinary Committee found him guilty of inexcusable and deplorable negligence for failing to pursue the actions or keep clients informed, with no adequate explanation for the delay. No dishonesty was found. He was fined $100,000 per complainant (total $200,000), with $90,000 of each fine directed to the complainants as part compensation, plus $5,000 costs to each complainant.

Duties found breached:

• No taking unfair advantage
• Keep client informed and respond promptly
• Manage conflict arising mid-matter

Aggravating factors:

• Long and unsatisfactory history with numerous adjournments
• No adequate explanation offered for the delay
• Failed to enter judgment in default or otherwise pursue the claim

Mitigating factors:

• Attorney paid sums to complainants from his own means (Adassa Lawrence $165,000; Lindell Cohall $200,000)
• Legal action had been filed and served, and Notice of Intention to Proceed filed
• Claimants can still pursue the action in court

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_costs_amount=10000"]