G.L.C Says Attorney Breached Code of Conduct

The General Legal Council has decided following a complaint brought against a Belizean attorney by another retired attorney of New Zealand. That lawyer, Jinyue Young, had alleged that attorney-at-law, Bryan Neal failed to update Mister Young on the status of a matter for which Neal was retained in March 2023. In that case, Young was hired to act against a tenant of Young’s who had owed rent arrears. The Council found that while Neal had adequate time to provide written evidence in response to the allegation to the council when the complaint was served on him, he didn’t do so. The council dealt with the matter on February ninth and after listening to both sides, found that Neal had breached, among others, rule twenty-eight, one, which stipulates that an attorney must deal with their clients’ business as expeditiously as possible and must provide their clients with full information on the progress of the clients’ business. The Council also found that in correspondence from Neal, he did not indicate that he would not deal with the matter for Young, who had paid him five thousand dollars to deal with the matter for him. Neal, however, has refunded Young the money in full and has also offered to help find an attorney who would be able to take on the job.