Richard Bonner v General Legal Council
| Jurisdiction | Jamaica |
| Judge | P Williams JA,D Fraser JA,G Fraser JA |
| Judgment Date | 05 May 2023 |
| Neutral Citation | JM 2023 CA 49 |
| Docket Number | MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL NO 7/2017 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Jamaica) |
[2023] JMCA Misc 1
THE HON Miss Justice P Williams JA
THE HON Mr Justice D Fraser JA
THE HON Mrs Justice G Fraser JA (AG)
MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL NO 7/2017
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL
Civil Law — Professional misconduct by an attorney-at-law — Whether there was a fair hearing due to the refusal to grant adjournment requests — Improper constitution of the panel of the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council (‘GLC’) — Challenging findings of fact made by the GLC panel — Re-hearing the complaint before the GLC — Whether the sanction imposed was manifestly harsh and excessive
Aston Spencer for the appellant
Mrs Sandra Minott-Phillips QC and Mrs Kelly-Ann Hacker instructed by Myers, Fletcher & Gordon for the respondent
The appellant, Mr Richard Bonner (‘Mr Bonner’), an attorney-at-law, was alleged to have misappropriated funds held on his client's behalf and had failed to account for those funds after being reasonably required to do so, thereby bringing the dignity of the legal profession into disrepute. The Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council (‘the Committee’) found him guilty of professional misconduct. The Committee ordered that he be struck from the Roll of Attorneys-at-Law entitled to practice in Jamaica, make restitution and pay costs. He sought to challenge the Committee's findings on the basis that he did not receive a fair hearing of the complaint that was made against him and that various incorrect findings of fact had been made. He also contended that the sanctions imposed were manifestly harsh and excessive.
Mr Bonner was a close family friend of the complainant, Dr Opal Gibson-Corbin (‘Dr Gibson-Corbin’), and her brother, Mr Michael Gibson (‘Mr Gibson’), for over 50 years. In or about January 2007, Mr Gibson retained him on behalf of all the Gibson siblings to attend to the probate or administration of the estate of their deceased mother, Annie Anita Gibson. The other siblings were Ms Maxine Gibson (‘Ms Gibson’) and Ms Fern Bishop (‘Ms Bishop’). While attending to the estate, Mr Bonner conducted the sale of premises located at 3 Chevy Chase, Havendale, Kingston 19 (‘the property’) for $11,100,000.00. That sale was completed in 2007.
Dr Gibson-Corbin filed a complaint with a supporting affidavit against Mr Bonner before the General Legal Council (‘GLC’) in June 2014. She asserted that “as a consideration for his services”, Mr Bonner had billed them, and he was paid $65,400.00. She further stated that after the sale of the property, an initial distribution of $1,500,000.00 was made, followed by a further distribution of $3,616,500.00 to herself and her siblings. She said this represented approximately 50% of the net proceeds of the sale after expenses, leaving a balance of $5,509,535.00. Mr Bonner gave her a statement of account dated 4 October 2013, which he had signed, confirming that $5,509,535.00 was “due and owing” to the siblings.
At the time of filing the complaint, Mr Bonner had not paid the outstanding sums to Dr Gibson-Corbin or her siblings. The hearing into the complaint commenced on 7 February 2015, and, at that time, Mr Bonner had not filed a response to the complaint. The hearing was held on diverse days between 7 February 2015 and 25 March 2017.
At the first date of the hearing on 7 February 2015, Dr Gibson-Corbin (who travelled from Barbados where she resided), Mr Gibson and Ms Gibson were present. Mr Bonner represented himself at the hearing. At the commencement of the hearing, the Committee indicated to Mr Bonner that they had not seen any response from him apart from two letters dated 4 September 2009 and 3 May 2012. These were letters from Mr Bonner to Dr Gibson-Corbin in which he sought to account for his delay in responding to her and explain the expenditures he had made. He also indicated that he was in the process of selling some properties. The Committee enquired of Mr Bonner if he had a copy of the complaint, and he affirmed that he had not responded to it but said that he had spoken to Dr Gibson-Corbin “as [to] how [they] could work the problem”. He said that “[i]t was a situation we had agreed on. We agreed on a time line and a certain date but I am tempted to show her”.
Dr Gibson-Corbin gave oral evidence, and the complaint she had filed and the supporting affidavit were tendered and admitted into evidence without objection from Mr Bonner. Her evidence mirrored the facts outlined above. In answer to questions from the Committee, after the admission of these documents, Mr Bonner indicated that he had not filed any documents, and there were none that he intended to rely on.
Dr Gibson-Corbin identified the statement of account, dated 4 October 2013, that she said she had received from Mr Bonner. It was tendered and admitted into evidence, with no objection from him. When Mr Bonner cross-examined her, she agreed that there was no line item of $65,000.00 for his fees contained in that statement of account. She indicated that she did not know whether Mr Bonner had been retained for $65,000.00. She was also questioned as to her knowledge about the property.
Mr Gibson also gave sworn testimony. He corroborated the evidence given by his sister, Dr Gibson-Corbin. He stated that he knew Mr Bonner for over 50 years and that Mr Bonner was retained in relation to the property and had carriage of the sale. An undated statement of account relating to the sale of the property that Mr Gibson had received from Mr Bonner, which Mr Bonner also signed, was tendered and admitted into evidence without objection. During cross-examination, Mr Gibson denied knowledge of the winding up of and discussions surrounding the estate of Hector, situated at 20 New Haven Avenue. Immediately following Mr Gibson's denial, the following exchange occurred:
“R. Bonner: Can I ask for an adjournment to retain counsel?
Panel: Ok. Mr. Bonner you need to look at the complaint.
Bonner: What are you looking at?
Panel: There are 2 specific charges, so what is [sic] the charges?
R. Bonner: To mitigate.
Panel: What month.
R. Bonner: I think March.” (Emphasis added)
The matter was adjourned to 28 March 2015, but a notice dated 23 March 2015 was issued by the GLC to Mr Bonner indicating that the matter was postponed. In July 2015, Dr Gibson-Corbin wrote to the GLC expressing her displeasure at the adjournment of the hearing and her surprise at the long delay. A notice was issued to Mr Bonner dated 4 August 2015, advising that the matter was set for continuation on 10 October 2015.
On 10 October 2015, Mr Gibson and Ms Gibson were present, but Mr Bonner was absent. He sent a letter dated 9 October 2015 to the Committee, attaching a medical certificate indicating that he was ill and unable to attend the hearing. Mr Bonner also filed an affidavit in response to the complaint dated 9 October 2015. In it, he admitted that he was retained in relation to work on the estate of Annie Anita Gibson, deceased, and that he was required to undertake the sale of the property. He indicated that, in order to administer her estate, he had to also administer the estate of her late husband and deceased son, in whose estates she had an interest. He also deponed to undertaking the sale of a number of other properties and indicated that he honestly believed that he had tried his best to keep Dr Gibson-Corbin informed as to the progress of the matter despite several constraints. He maintained that he had accounted to Dr Gibson-Corbin for all sums of money he handled on behalf of the estate. He denied that he had not accounted to the executor and beneficiaries of the estate for all the moneys. He denied breaching Canon I(b) of the Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules (‘Canons’) as he had always sought to maintain and uphold the honour and dignity of the profession and denied acting unprofessionally or negligently. He filed a statement of account, dated 8 October 2015, in which he set out expenditure in the sum of $10,228,153.00 in relation to services performed regarding “20 New Haven Drive, the estate of Anthony Lloyd Gibson”, the “sale of 3 Chevy Chase between Jacqueline Austin and Annie Gibson (Aborted Sale)”, “Paul McCormack (11,100,000.00)” and for the “Sale of Red Hills part of Belvedere”.
The medical certificate Mr Bonner attached to his 9 October 2015 letter was dated 5 October 2015. That certificate was from Dr Derrick Jarrett, who indicated that Mr Bonner was “physically unfit for work for 14 days as of 05/10/2015”. A member of the panel was also absent on 10 October 2015, so the hearing could not have proceeded in any event. It was adjourned to 24 October 2015, and the secretary was directed to write to Mr Bonner suggesting that his witnesses give character evidence in mitigation by way of affidavit and that the statement of account dated 8 October 2015 should be revised to include more details regarding receipts and payments. This was communicated to Mr Bonner in a letter from the GLC dated 14 October 2015.
Dr Gibson-Corbin sent an email to the GLC on 21 October 2015 concerning the postponement. She indicated that she had been informed that a letter “had been concocted by [Mr Bonner] and sent to the council”. She further stated that she had been informed of the contents of the letter, and from what she had been told, “the content [was] preposterous”, and she had no recollection of any of what Mr Bonner stated.
On 24 October 2015, both Mr Gibson and Ms Gibson were present along with counsel for Dr Gibson-Corbin, but Mr Bonner was again absent. The Committee acknowledged that he had submitted a letter to the GLC dated 21 October 2015, referring to the statement of account dated 8 October 2015 and enclosing documents he said were “receipts in support of the items of expenditure”. He...
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