The High Court dismissed an appeal by Donal Dennehy against a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal decision that there was no prima facie case of misconduct by solicitor Thomas A. Shanahan.
Dennehy’s complaint concerned Shanahan’s representation of him in a personal injuries action dating from 1996/97. He alleged that the solicitor failed to correspond or engage with him about instructing counsel and sending letters. The court also addressed allegations that Shanahan failed to engage properly, correspond, or issue a bill of costs.
The Tribunal rejected the allegations, finding they had been adequately rebutted and that there was no evidence to support them. Dennehy appealed that decision by a notice of motion returned on 20 January 2014.
In an affidavit, Shanahan disputed whether the appeal was properly before the court, saying he had not been properly served. He said he had handed the personal injuries file to another solicitor on 15 November 2002, and that it was later passed to another solicitor in November 2005. According to his affidavit, the action settled in February 2009. He also said Dennehy had made complaints against all solicitors involved and sought finality after his retainer had ended.
The court agreed with the Tribunal’s findings. It said there was no evidence to substantiate the allegations that Shanahan had acted inappropriately, found no misconduct, and dismissed the appeal. The judgment did not make a separate ruling on Shanahan’s service objection.
However, the court said future Tribunal rulings should give clear and concise reasons. It described the rulings in this case and others as uninformative and inadequate, warning that such rulings could encourage appeals that otherwise might not be brought.