Law Society calls for solicitor's firm to be shut down

The Law Society's Regulation of Practice committee is strongly opposed to solicitor's firm with a deficit of more than €6.3m being allowed to continue to trade any longer, the High Court has heard.

Today the President of the High Court Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns was informed that an independent accountant's report revealed that a proposal to repay the monies owed, including €1.5m left in a will to the Archbishop of Dublin, by legal firm Sean O'Ceallaigh and Co. was not viable.

As a result of that report, conducted by Mr David Rowe, and the other circumstances in the case the Law Society's committee believes that the firm should be shut down and its files distributed to new solicitors.

Last month the court suspended the practicing certificate of one the firm's partner solicitor Ruairi O'Ceallaigh after he admitted losing millions on the stock exchange and on property deals.

His brother and partner Cormac O'Ceallaigh, who has done nothing wrong or dishonesty in the running of the firm set up by their father Sean, is making efforts to repay the monies.

When the matter came before the court today Mr Justice Kearns agreed to adjourn what he described as a matter of the "utmost gravity and seriousness" for four weeks to allow Cormac O'Ceallaigh time to come up with an arrangement, deemed acceptable to all parties, that would allow him to continue to operate the practise.

The adjournment was granted after Séamus Ó Tuathail AS for Cormac said that while Mr Rowe's was not happy with the current proposal it was possible to come up with an alternative scheme of arrangement between the parties.

The Judge said that while he prepared to given Cormac O'Ceallaigh time, he was not prepared to allow the matter drag on.

There were no objections to the matter being adjourned.