Law Society takes legal action against third solicitor

LEGAL action has been taken against a third solicitor the High Court was told yesterday.

Two solicitors are already before the court involving about €100m owed to financial institutions and yesterday the Law Society initiated proceedings against a third who has given an undertaking not to practise and has surrendered his chequebooks to another solicitor acting for him.

The proceedings were briefly before the court yesterday but the solicitor was not named.

The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Richard Johnson, said he had read the papers in the case and the matters were “serious but not as serious as those in the other cases”, an apparent reference to the cases of solicitors Michael Lynn and Thomas Byrne, whose practices have been closed by the Law Society and who both have estimated multi-million liabilities arising from alleged mortgage fraud.

Jack Fitzgerald SC, for the respondent solicitor, said he was very concerned about publicity in the case and asked that it be heard in private.

Paul McDermott BL, for the Law Society, said it had brought its application on notice to the respondent solicitor and believed there was no good reason why the matter should not be heard in public. Counsel said this would avoid rumours circulating and other solicitors being put under suspicion.

This case did not have the “same level of seriousness” as the other cases but, if it was heard in private, people might believe it was as serious.

Mr McDermott said he accepted Mr Fitzgerald had just been given the papers in the case and the society would not oppose his having an opportunity to study those.

Mr Fitzgerald said he was not getting into the meat of the case and his side had agreed last Tuesday that the proceedings could be served at shorter notice than was required under court rules. However, he had just seen the papers 15 minutes earlier and this was not proper short service. He repeated that he was very concerned about publicity in the matter.

Counsel also said that a figure, an alleged deficit, had been mentioned in the society’s documents in the case and he had instructions the figure referred to had been reduced to about 20% or 25% of what was stated.

Mr Justice Johnson said he would not hear the case in private at this point but would also give the respondent solicitor liberty to file an affidavit and would return the case to Monday when Mr Fitzgerald could renew his application to have the proceedings heard in private.