Decision record
J. Vernon (Jonathan) Ricketts
Allegation / charges
Struck off again, Already Struck off, Restitution Ordered, Fined | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered November 08, 2008. View PDF DECISION OF THE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL LEGAL COUNCIL COMPLAINT No. 234/2006 YVONNE E. CHAMBERS VS JONATHAN VERNON RICKETTS …
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
Attorney was retained to remove a deceased husband's name from land titles and to handle a $4.5 million land sale. He received a $1 million deposit but failed to complete the transfer, failed to remove the name from the title, claimed the documents were stolen from his car, and never accounted to the complainant for the $1 million. The Committee found breaches of Canons IV(r), IV(s), VII(b) and I(b) and ordered him struck off (though already struck off in an unrelated matter), with restitution of $1 million plus 8% interest, a $200,000 fine, and $10,000 costs. No express finding of dishonesty was made.
Duties found breached:
- Disclose adverse law to the court
- Uphold public trust in the profession
- No conflict between current clients
- No improper use of client money
Aggravating factors:
- Attorney already struck off for an unrelated matter
- Failed to account for the $1,000,000 deposit received
- Failed to complete transfer and remove deceased husband's name from title
- Claimed papers including title were stolen from his car
Duties engaged
- Disclose adverse law to the court
- Uphold public trust in the profession
- Disclose material information to client
- Keep client informed and respond promptly
- No conflict between current clients
- No improper use of client money
- Prompt accounting and return of money
- Accounting records, reconciliation and reports
- Diligence and timeliness
Other decisions involving this respondent
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Documents
Source: https://www.generallegalcouncil.org/judgement/j-vernon-jonathan-ricketts-complaint-no-234-of-2006/