Shaun A. Reynolds

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

Attorney Shaun Reynolds was retained around 1996 to act for the complainant and his partner in purchasing two lots of land. Substantial sums were paid to the attorney (and some directly to vendors), but neither sale was ever completed, no titles were registered, and the attorney never accounted for the funds nor produced supporting documentation. The panel preferred the complainant's credible evidence over the attorney's prevaricating account. The panel found the complaints proven beyond reasonable doubt: breaches of canon iv(r) (failure to act with expedition), canon vii(b) (failure to account), and canon i(b) (conduct discrediting the profession), amounting to professional misconduct under s.12(4) of the Legal Profession Act. Given four prior findings of professional misconduct, the panel ordered the attorney struck off the Roll, ordered restitution of $2,687,545 with 10% interest from 28 March 2001, and costs of $50,000. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Prompt accounting and return of money

Aggravating factors:

• Four prior findings of professional misconduct by the Disciplinary Committee
• Failed to produce any documentation despite ample opportunity
• Prevaricated in his evidence
• Acted for both vendor and purchaser in both transactions
• Sales never completed over many years, no titles obtained

Mitigating factors:

• Suffered a stroke and was abroad, explaining some delay
• Paid $100,000 to Mr. Green to assist in completing one sale

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_suspension_months=5024.5112"]