In April, the General Legal Council - which responds to complaints the public makes against attorneys - found OJ Elrington guilty of professional misconduct. He had agreed to a settlement without his client's knowledge or approval.
And on July 12th, the GLC handed down a fine. First, Elrington is fined $15,000 dollars - $5,000 of which must go to his former client, Pastor Dozie.
He is also required to pay the full settlement amount, $46,588 dollars which is due to Pastor Dozie. That has to be repaid by the end of July and the fine has to be paid by the end of August.
If those are not paid, Elrington will be suspended from practice.
But, if the exposure was so grave why didn't they suspend him anyway? The judgement explains that it took into account mitigating factors including Elrington's acceptance of the Council's finding, the fact that he has been unable to pay the money received on the settlement to Pastor Dozie because he was not given a bank account number by the Pastor and the fact that he has been willing to take on pro bono work.
