FRIDAY, JULY 6: Disgraced lawyer Llewellyn Peniston has failed in his appeal against being struck off the roll of barristers.
Mr Peniston had appealed against the decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal to disbar him for improper conduct at the beginning of the year.
But he failed to present his case within the time limit and was officially stuck off at the end of last month.
Mr Peniston had faced two sets of improper conduct charges.
The first complaint was made by Irma Burrows and contained nine counts of improper conduct.
On December 5, last year, he was found guilty of six counts of improper conduct such as dishonesty and failing to observe professional ethics and etiquette.
Trust
The complaint included; Mr Peniston’s conducting himself in a manner likely to impair his client’s trust in him, his failure to be competent, diligent and efficient in all his professional duties and his failure to maintain sufficient balances in his trust accounts to meet all his obligations.
Mr Peniston appealed to the court of Appeal but the appeal was dismissed ‘for want of prosecution’ on June 7 and he was struck off.
The second complaint was made by the Bermuda Bar Council and alleged three separate complaints of improper conduct.
He pled guilty to the charge of practicing while suspended, while the Tribunal found him guilty of failure to maintain accounting records and issuing threats.
Notice
A government notice outlining the complaints as well as the rulings appeared in last week’s Official Gazette.
Justin Williams, vice president of the Bermuda Bar Association said: “The Bermuda Bar Association confirms that by virtue of a ruling of a disciplinary tribunal dated 6 January 2012 Mr Llewellyn Peniston was disbarred and struck from the Roll of Attorneys
“This ruling was subject to an appeal brought by Mr. Peniston, which on 7 June 2012 was dismissed for want of prosecution by Mr. Peniston.
“As a result the ruling of the disciplinary tribunal of 6 January 2012 remains in full force and effect.”
Mr Peniston could not be reached for comment.