Sean O’Neil Kinghorn

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

The Attorney was retained after the Complainant's 2008 motor vehicle accident to pursue a personal injury claim. Due to delays obtaining a medical report (which the hospital had lost), and the Attorney's failure to file a protective claim or advise the client of the limitation period, the claim became statute barred on 16 February 2014. The Committee found the Attorney guilty of professional misconduct for breaching Canons IV(r) and IV(s). Expressly noting this was not a case of dishonesty or moral turpitude (so no suspension or striking off), the Panel imposed a compensatory fine of J$2,000,000 (to be paid to the Complainant) plus J$100,000 costs, estimating the lost claim's value at around J$2,000,000 after discounts.

Duties found breached:

• Act only on proper, lawful instructions
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Attorney allowed limitation period to expire without filing claim
• Failed to advise client of the limitation date and consequences before expiration
• Failed to explore options to preserve the cause of action
• Client suffered loss of a viable personal injury claim

Mitigating factors:

• Not a case of dishonesty or moral turpitude
• Attorney made several attempts to obtain the medical report from the hospital which had lost the records