Hawai’i Attorney Benjamin R.C. Ignacio Publicly Reprimanded for Failing to Provide Client Documents

On Thursday, August 29, 2024, the Disciplinary Board of the Hawai’i Supreme Court publicly reprimanded attorney Benjamin R.C. Ignacio.

The case is entitled “In the Matter of Benjamin R.C. Ignacio,” with case no. SCAD-23-0000671.

The charges cited Hawaii Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1, 1.3, 1.4(a)(5), 1.15, 3.2, 4.1 (a), and 8.4 (c).

A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client.

A lawyer shall act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client.

A lawyer shall promptly comply with reasonable requests for information.

A lawyer shall hold the property of clients, i.e.: their file, as a fiduciary.

A lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to expedite litigation. In this instance, litigation would include the appeal.

In the course of representing a client, a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of material fact to a third person.

A lawyer shall not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, deceit, or misrepresentation.

The Rules of Professional Conduct can be found here.

According to the filing, Ignacio had been retained as trial counsel for a federal criminal defendant named William Turner. After the conclusion of the trial and sentencing, Ignacio filed a notice of appeal on Turner’s behalf. Turner then obtained separate appellate counsel on the mainland. However, Ignacio failed to provide appellate counsel with critical case files and ignored numerous requests for information, hindering the appeal.

Due to the missing documents, the appellate court was unable to consider a potentially viable defense argument.

For violating various rules relating to competency, diligence, responding to client requests, holding client property, and honesty, the Disciplinary Board reprimanded Ignacio and mandated the reprimand be made a public record.

According to avvo.com, Mr. Ignacio is a criminal defense attorney in Honolulu, Hawaii. He attended the Notre Dame Law School, graduating in 1992. He acquired his law license in Hawaii in the same year.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.