Donald R. Bernard

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

Attorney Donald Bernard was retained to handle a land purchase and received balance purchase price and costs from the complainant. He failed to pay these sums to the vendor's attorney, only paying over J$1,251,005 in March 1998 at the client's insistence while withholding J$242,990. The panel found he dishonestly misappropriated the withheld sum and failed to account or refund (only J$30,000 repaid), and failed to perform work for which he was paid. Found guilty of professional misconduct in breach of Canons 1(b) and VII(ii), with an express finding of dishonesty. As he was already struck off, the panel ordered restitution of J$578,342.04 plus 12% interest, with no order as to costs.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No improper use of client money

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonest misappropriation of client funds entrusted for a specific purpose
• Failure to pay over funds to vendor's attorney causing client additional expense
• Failure to account and to refund the client (only J$30,000 of the sums owed refunded)
• Failed to perform work for which J$54,000 fee was paid

Mitigating factors:

• Implied admission of responsibility and offer of restitution (exhibit 16)
• Complainant partially contributed to the delay (interest claim reduced by half)