The High Court has ordered the release of €153,610.99, plus interest, from solicitor Colm Murphy’s client account to Ballincollig Holdings Limited. The order grants a motion brought by the Law Society of Ireland and deals only with the distribution of those funds.
Mr Justice Kearns said the money was held for the benefit of Ballincollig Holdings and was prima facie properly due to the company. The court found no valid reason had been put forward to prevent payment. It did not decide the separate disputes raised by Murphy about fees or the appointment of the company’s directors.
The funds were among those left in the client account of Murphy’s former practice when the Society redistributed most of the account in 2007. The judgment says €153,000 was recorded on a ledger card relating to Donal Brendan O’Connell. In 2008, Murphy told the Society that the money related to O’Connell and Ballincollig Holdings. He later acknowledged that the funds held by the Society formed part of O’Connell’s estate or were held for the company’s beneficial owner.
Ballincollig Holdings sought release of the money. The Society’s Regulation of Practice Committee directed in July 2012 that it be paid to the company, subject to an indemnity against claims from O’Connell’s estate or Murphy. The Society received the indemnity the following month. Murphy then threatened legal proceedings if the money was paid out, prompting the Society to seek the court order.
Murphy opposed payment, principally arguing that the company’s directors had not been validly appointed because their appointments arose from a will he was challenging. The company disputed his affidavit. Its director and secretary also said Murphy had agreed to have his claimed costs taxed but had not done so, and that he later brought proceedings seeking €217,836 in costs.
The judge said any claim for professional fees was a separate legal issue for separate proceedings and had no place in the Society’s disciplinary proceedings. The court likewise declined to determine the validity of the directors’ appointments in this motion. The ruling did not resolve either issue; it granted the Society’s motion for payment to Ballincollig Holdings.