Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has said long-awaited legislation to reform the legal profession will be in place by the end of the year. However the Legal Services Regulation Bill, originally published by former minister for justice Alan Shatter nearly four years ago, is a diluted version of the original. So far there have been 235 amendments – and it will be subject to more changes before it is signed into law. The Bill was drafted following a 2010 memorandum of understanding with the EU and the International Monetary Fund. Its aim was to introduce independent regulation and implement recommendations around transparency and competition made by the Competition Authority and the...
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Diluted Legal Services Regulation Bill has 235 amendments and counting
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Lawyer struck off for misappropriating trust money
A former Dunedin lawyer has been struck off the roll of barristers and solicitors after keeping money belonging to a client. Richard James Woodhouse pled guilty at a New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary...
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Law Society suspends solicitor from practising
The Law Society has secured interim orders to freeze the accounts of a solicitor after he disclosed a deficit of up to €400,000 in a client account. In documents supplied to the court Barry Murphy, a sole practitioner practising as Eugene Carey & Company Solicitors, Courthouse Chambers, Mallow, Co Cork also admitted having a "serious gambling problem"....
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Former solicitor stole €260k from clients after series of 'catastrophic' investments
A former solicitor who was €6.5 million in debt stole €260,000 from her clients after she made a series of “catastrophic” investments during the property boom, a court has heard. Share Former solicitor stole €260k from clients after series of 'catastrophic' investments Independent.ie A former solicitor who was €6.5 million in debt stole €260,000 from her clients after she made a series of “catastrophic” investments during the property boom, a court has heard....
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Solicitor guilty of misconduct for not refunding excessive fee
A solicitor who charged three times what he should have for the administration and dispersal of the estate of a late farmer has been found guilty of professional misconduct. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal made the...
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Legal reform: Professions to retain key powers in plan
The representative bodies for barristers and solicitors will retain many of their major powers as the Government makes a late push to proceed with a long-delayed overhaul of the legal professions by the end of the year. Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald will bring a memorandum to Cabinet on Tuesday in which she seeks approval for amendments to the Legal Services Regulation Bill, the draft law to revamp the professions which had encountered deep resistance from the Bar Council and the Law Society. Legal...
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Solicitor charged his client for hearings that he never attended, High Court told
A solicitor billed a client for court hearings he never attended and claimed to have spent hours working on matters which took considerably less time to complete, the High Court has heard. The revelations came in a case described by one experienced legal costs accountant as "the worst example of overcharging" he had ever seen. The court...
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Judge refuses struck-off solicitor’s bid to resume practice
A solicitor struck off three years ago has lost his High Court bid to have his name restored to the Roll of Solicitors. The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, found David Walsh, who formerly practised as David Walsh & Co Solicitors, Mount...
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Lawyer struck off
A LAWYER who stole more than £200,000 from clients has been struck off. George Barrowman,...
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Dublin solicitor guilty of misconduct over handling of cases
A well-known Dublin solicitor has been found guilty of professional misconduct arising from his handling of a number of cases and failure to pay various sums totalling some €35,000 to four clients and an accountant. The practice at Capel Building, Dublin, of Gregory F O’Neill, who was treated for severe depression from 2009, was closed in March 2011, his counsel Comac Ó Dulachain said. He has not worked since, is in receipt of disability benefit...
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Solicitor struck off for ‘woeful neglect’ of client
A woman is unable to sell her house because, unknown to her, a €40,000 judgment was entered against her due to her solicitor’s “woeful neglect” and “reprehensible” failure to process her personal injuries case, the High Court heard. Angela Farrell, a solicitor practising at North Great George’s Street, Dublin, was yesterday struck off for professional misconduct arising from failing to protect...
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Dublin solicitor guilty of misconduct over case-handling
A well-known Dublin solicitor has been found guilty of professional misconduct arising from his handling of a number of cases and failure to pay various sums totalling some €35,000 to four clients and an accountant. The practice at Capel Building, Dublin, of Gregory F O’Neill, who was treated for severe depression from 2009, was closed in March 2011, his counsel Comac Ó Dulachain said. He has not worked since, is in receipt of disability benefit...
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Donegal solicitor used client funds of more than €177,000
A Co Donegal solicitor used at least €177,000 of his client’s money to pay for personal expenses, the High Court has been told. The court was told yesterday that the Law Society took action against Andrew G Morrow, practising as David Wilson and Co Solicitors, Raphoe, Lifford, Co Donegal, after its regulation of practice committee decided he had been...
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High Court censures solicitor
A solicitor whose service to a number of clients repeatedly fell below acceptable professional standards has been censured by the High Court and ordered only to work under supervision. The Law Society had applied to have...
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Dublin solicitor Greg O'Neill guilty of misconduct charges
A Dublin solicitor has been found guilty of several charges of professional misconduct relating to over €35,000 that he owes to five former clients. Greg...
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Call to prosecute solicitors with more urgency and force
CAROL COULTER DELAYS IN the criminal prosecution system in relation to white-collar crime seem to be endemic and are totally unacceptable, according to the chairman of the Solicitors��� Disciplinary Tribunal, who has just released his report for 2011.In it Frank Daly proposes the recruiting of unemployed solicitors, barristers and accountants into specialist units of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation to deal with the...
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Miners solicitors struck off
A tribunal...
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Dallison struck off for serious misconduct
Peter Robert Dallison has been struck off the roll of barristers and solicitors for serious misconduct, a disciplinary tribunal said today. The New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal says Mr Dallison admitted a...
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Solicitor struck off for forging signature
A SOLICITOR who used a colleague���s signature when signing undertakings related to bank loans on property has been struck off by the High Court for professional misconduct. Patrick J Munnelly, formerly of Fair and Murtagh solicitors, Northgate Street, Athlone, Co Westmeath, was found guilty by a disciplinary tribunal of wrongfully signing the signature of his former partner, Martin Egan, on documents related to three properties in Athlone in which Mr Munnelly...
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Solicitor struck off for professional misconduct
Man claims he was provoked into attack because of porn sitesState to sell assets of drugs gangLeech granted Euro750,000 of libel award pending appealRefused youth killed guest at 21st partyMedical data sought over Garda claimsYouth remanded in...
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