Solicitors fined €100k for dishonesty

TWO solicitors were yesterday fined €100,000 each for professional misconduct after a judge said he wanted to send out a message that dishonesty would not be tolerated in the legal profession.

President of the High Court Mr Justice Richard Johnson also prohibited solicitors Michael McDarby and Sean Acton, of Michael McDarby and Co in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, from practising on their own for the next two years.

Earlier this year, the pair had been fined €25,000 each by the Law Society’s Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) for charging a 10% levy in personal injuries actions — despite having their costs covered by the insurance companies.

The SDT’s decision came before Mr Justice Johnson last month, who described the fines as “derisory” and he adjourned the matter until yesterday.

Paul Anthony McDermott BL, for the Law Society, told the court yesterday the overcharging involved the setting up of a bank account so the firm could “trade off the books”.

When settlements were paid into this account, two separate payments were paid out, one to the client and one to the solicitor firm itself.

Mr McDermott said the Law Society’s investigating accountant reported he had never before seen “a system so sophisticated”, which was designed to mislead anyone looking at their books.

Mr Justice Johnson said the word was not “mislead” the “word you are looking for is lie”.

The judge said: “I want it to go forward from this court that dishonesty has got to be stopped.

“It is not to be tolerated. I recognise that in other forums we are not shocked by dishonesty and at times one may come to the conclusion that it is a way of life, but I would try to stop it here.”

The judge suggested last month that striking off the two solicitors may be the appropriate penalty.

However, after hearing submissions from counsel for the solicitors, he ordered they could only practise for the next two years within the practice of another qualified solicitor. He increased the fines to €100,000 each and also ordered them to pay the Law Society’s costs.

In their plea for leniency, counsel for the two solicitors said they fully accepted that what they did was completely unprofessional. They apologised to the public, their colleagues, the Law Society and the court.

Mr Justice Johnson rejected a suggestion by counsel that nobody was out of pocket as a result of what they had done. He said the Revenue Commissioners were out of pocket from the untaxed solicitor/client fees involved in this.

“The Revenue — that is you and me,” he said.

The judge also said he was surprised the Law Society had not taken an appeal against the SDT’s original fines given that these two men had “demonstrated a capacity for dishonesty that I find quite startling”.

The Law Society had brought the penalties imposed by the SDT — which is an independent tribunal to regulate the solicitors profession — to Mr Justice Johnson to either confirm, reject or vary them. Mr Justice Johnson said he believed they were inadequate.