Ramnath Hetram

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

The Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council of Jamaica found attorney Ramnath Hetram guilty of professional misconduct after he was retained to administer the estate of Aston Thompson, sell two properties, and liquidate a mortgage. Applying the criminal standard of proof, the Committee found he received the full $1 million purchase price for one property but left $294,889.93 unaccounted for, failed to account for $5,000 on another sale, kept no proper accounts, took fees without billing the client, never responded to inquiries, and caused inexcusable delay. He was found in breach of Canons IV(r), IV(s), VII(b)(i), VII(b)(ii), I(b) and VIII(b). The Committee did not make an express finding of dishonesty but found misconduct of the gravest kind and ordered his name struck from the roll under section 12(4) of the Legal Profession Act. No fine or costs were ordered.

Duties found breached:

• Overriding duty to the court
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money

Aggravating factors:

• Received the full purchase price of $1 million for 5 Cherry View, with a balance of $294,889.93 unaccounted for
• Failed to account for $5,000 of the $25,000 received on 64 Alexander Park
• Failed to produce any statements of account or records of where estate funds were held
• Took fees from estate funds without ever billing the client or obtaining agreement
• Inexcusable delay in conduct of estate business over many years
• Never responded in writing to numerous letters from the client and other attorneys
• Never completed the work he was retained to do

Mitigating factors:

• Attorney was a man of mature years
• Profession was likely his only source of financial support
• Did perform substantial work (obtained probate, registered transmissions, liquidated the mortgage)
• Received no fees in advance