The High Court has proposed suspending solicitor Cormac Lohan from practice until 20 March 2025 and imposing monitoring and training conditions, while leaving two financial penalties and the final wording of its orders for further submissions.
In a judgment delivered on 11 December 2024, Mr Justice Micheál P. O’Higgins considered two linked applications arising from disciplinary proceedings. The Law Society of Ireland asked the court to adopt the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s recommendation that Lohan be barred from practising alone or in partnership and pay €15,000 to the Society’s Compensation Fund and €15,000 in tribunal costs. Lohan challenged the tribunal’s findings and recommendation, arguing the proposed restriction was excessive.
The tribunal had found professional misconduct on nine charges Lohan admitted. The charges arose from a 2016 inspection and included client ledger debit balances, inadequate accounting records and missing supporting documents for a €422,875.50 transfer from a client account to an office account. The court noted that the Society accepted there was ultimately no shortfall in client funds and no client was left out of pocket. Eighteen of the original 27 charges were withdrawn, including an allegation of a €605,514 deficit.
The judge said the admitted breaches were serious and sustained, and noted Lohan’s prior disciplinary record. He also found that Lohan’s later court affidavits sought to dispute or minimise findings he had admitted before the tribunal, weakening the credit due for his earlier plea. The judge described Lohan’s attempt to set aside those findings as misconceived. However, he concluded that the later conduct did not justify ending Lohan’s career as a sole practitioner. In reaching that view, he cited the eight years without further charges despite annual audits, steps taken to address the accounting problems, and the absence of client loss or complaints.
The proposed orders include suspension until 20 March 2025, subject to the court hearing the parties on the date it takes effect. If Lohan seeks to resume as a sole practitioner after the suspension, he must satisfy the Society that he has completed appropriate training in ethics, accounts management and compliance. For three years, he must provide accountant reports every six months on the standard of his client and office accounts. He must also assist Society inspections, and the Society may return to court on 72 hours’ notice if conditions are breached. The judge’s provisional view was that existing co-signatory requirements should remain in place for now.
The court did not make a final order on the proposed €15,000 Compensation Fund payment or €15,000 measured costs. It listed the matter for further submissions on those issues and on the wording of the conditions. The judgment does not state the final suspension commencement date.