Private practicing lawyer Silvester Ayuba James of CJ Attorneys has been summoned to a conduct hearing by the Malawi Law Society (MLS) following a complaint by his client, Billy Matitha Gama.
According to a summon which we have seen, Ayuba James has been charged with conduct which may amount to embezzlement and failure to provide competent representation to a client among other.
“You were engaged by Mr Gama to represent him in a civil matter where he was sued by one of his suppliers. Mr Gama alleges that you advised him to deposit K60,000,000.00 into your personal account while waiting for reconciliation with the supplier.
“Mr Gama states that while he was waiting for the reconciliation, he withdrew K29,000,000.00 through you. Mr Gama states that after sometime, he was informed that there was a ruling from the court and that he should pay the supplier K46,000,000.00. He was further told to write a cheque to Kawelo Lawyers, the supplier’s lawyers. It is at this point that he asked you to deposit the balance to his bank account.
“Mr Gama alleges that you told him that you had made a mistake and deposited K11,000,000.00 to Kawelo Lawyers instead of his account. From the above account, it is alleged that you still had K20,000,000.00 from the K60,000,000.00 and this was meant for Nail Teck (K5,900,000.00), Aluminium Plus (K7,300,000.00) and the balance for himself, however, you did not pay them.
“He further alleges that he engaged you to represent him in court and due to your conduct and failure to carry out instructions, a default judgment was entered against him,” reads part of the summon
The summon further said Ayuba James did not respond to a letter which the Society wrote last year on the same.
“Kindly take note that the purpose of this meeting is to inform you about your alleged conduct that has resulted in the complaint and to ensure that you have a greater understanding of the consequences of your alleged actions.
“Further, not that that this is not a disciplinary hearing or inquiry, so that this meeting will be held in private between the Committee and yourself.
In the event that he fails to attend the conduct meeting without a valid reason made to the Committee, the summon states that Committee will proceed to issue procedural directions to both parties as to the manner in which the disciplinary inquiry will be conducted.
The summon meeting is slated for June 27.
