The Lawyers of Jamaica are constantly being found guilty of professional and ethical misconduct.... Why is this so??

 

 

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Who is a lawyer? A lawyer is known formally as an attorney at law, a person who has trained and studied to prepare, manage, and take legal action or defend a court action as an agent for another and who also gives advice on legal matters that may or may not require the court’s action (Britannica, n.d.). Did you know that becoming a lawyer takes patience, integrity, reading, and remembering case laws? Becoming a lawyer is not an easy task. An individual would have to be hardworking, dedicated, and willing to go the extra mile to achieve success in order to be licensed as a lawyer to practice. Studying to be a lawyer is not a bed of roses, Jamaicans may say, it takes many sleepless nights and a lot of reading and studying case law. How can one be finished with law school and get licensed to practice law and be involved in committing unethical acts? In today's blog post we will be discussing a case that is based on attorney Judith Pantry who is guilty of professional misconduct. Whereas lawyers are there to defend victims and ensure that justice is served to victims and not guilty offenders, lawyers in Jamaica are often involved in ethical issues and misconduct given that lawyers should follow ethical guidelines that govern how they act professionally.

In the case of Dawn Matthews vs. Judith Pantry, she was found guilty of professional misconduct on December 1, 2021. Judith Pantry was involved in the failure to account for the complainant, Dawn Matthews, for all finances in her possession for her account or credit, despite being reasonably required to do so. The attorney and the complainant were friends for over 35 years. The complainant engaged the service of the attorney to represent her parents, Mavis Francis and Lascelles Francis, in the sale of a property owned by the couple. The attorney failed to account to the complainant or Mr. and Mrs. Francis for interest earned on funds held on their behalf, and she failed to provide any proof of the exchange rate used or bank charges associated with the purchase of US Dollars for payments made to the complainant(Dawn Matthew vs Judith Pantry). The issue in the case was that the lawyer failed to transfer the correct funds according to the interest rate at the time from Jamaican dollars to US dollars, which, according to the Legal Profession (Account and Records Regulations) 1999 Section 8 (1) Subject to Regulation 14 of these Regulations, an attorney who holds money for or on account of a client shall account to the client for interest or an equivalent sum in the following circumstances: (i) where such money is held in an interest-bearing trust account, the attorney shall account to the client for the interest earned on that money; (ii) where such money is not so held in an interest-bearing trust account, the attorney shall, subject to Regulation 9 of these Regulations, pay to the client out of the attorney's own money, a sum equivalent to the interest which would have been earned during the period it should have been so held. Based on this act, the lawyer did not follow the guidelines that one should have followed in carrying out their professional duties. In this case, there is no evidence that the attorney applied the exchange rate to Jamaican dollars to transfer them to US dollars. The General Legal Council concluded that the attorney did not uphold professional standards such as integrity, probity, completeness, and trustworthiness. Furthermore, this lawyer should have acted professionally to maintain the reputation of lawyers. The final decision of the General Legal Council Panel was that first the attorney, Judith Pantry, should be reprimanded. Second, the attorney should be fined $250,000.00 by the General Legal Council within thirty days of today’s date. Third, the attorney should pay a sum of $1,755,250.29 by a means of restitution for all the interest the attorney did not account for to the complainant. Fourth, the attorney should pay a sum of $100,000.00 to the complainant. Finally, the attorney should pay an amount of $30,000.00 for cost proceedings to the General Legal Counsel within 30 days hereof. (Legal Profession Accounts and Records Regulation Act, 1999)  . Are these sanctions equitable or fair punishments for what the lawyer had done?

In this case what is the ethical issue that was present?  Professional misconduct was the ethical issue that was evident. Why are the lawyers of Jamaica involving in this ethical issue they have roles and responsibilities they should follow these guidelines in order to be ethical and be professional? Lawyer is a profession that the citizens of Jamaica look up to so why are these lawyers not representing this image of integrity instead they are involving in professional misconduct, why is this so?

In Conclusion, whereas lawyers are there to defend victims and ensure that justice is served to victims and not guilty offenders, lawyers in Jamaica are often involved in ethical issues and misconduct given that lawyers should follow ethical guidelines that govern how they act professionally. In this blog post the case of Dawn Matthews vs Judith Pantry in this case the attorney which is Judith Pantry was found guilty of professional misconduct for not transferring the funds with the correct exchange rate to the client the attorney was dealing with. The Act that was breached was the Legal Profession (Accounts and Records Regulations) 1999 Section 8 (i) (ii) which states that attorney’s Even though the attorney and the complainant had a friendship the attorney should always maintain integrity and treat clients fairly. The attorneys of Jamaica are not displaying a set of qualities that they should represent such as integrity, fairness and honesty; if this reality of our lawyers this image does not look good for our society.

A quote by Thomas Jefferson “A lawyer without books would be like a workman without tools.” (Williams, 2022)

 In this video it displays a case of a lawyer not performing his duties ethically what are your views on this matter?(NIS Jamaica, 2016)

Video by: NIA Jamaica - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsieSEjdTFQ&t=27s

References

Britannica. (n.d.). lawyer | Definition, Responsibilities, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/lawyer

Dawn Matthews vs Judith Pantry. https://www.generallegalcouncil.org/judgements/glc-2020-2-25-dawn-matthews-vs-judith-pantry-56-of-2020-sanction-hearing.pdf

Legal Profession Accounts and Records Regulations Act (1999) enacted https://www.generallegalcouncil.org/regulations/Legal-Profession-Accounts-and-Records-Regulations-1999.pdf

NIS Jamaica. (2016, February 22). Under The Law: Professional Misconduct [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsieSEjdTFQ&t=27s

Williams, S. (2022, February 23). Insightful Lawyer Quotes About Justice For All. Everyday Power. https://everydaypower.com/lawyer-quotes/