The High Court has dismissed solicitor Seán Sheehan’s appeal against a finding of professional misconduct arising from breaches of solicitors’ accounting regulations, while saying his conduct was at the lower end of the seriousness scale.
In a judgment delivered on 26 June 2015, President of the High Court Kearns dismissed the appeal. The court upheld the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s finding that Sheehan had breached rules by allowing debit balances to arise on the client account and failing to maintain proper books of account.
The case followed an inspection of Sheehan’s practice, Aaron Kelly & Co. in Drogheda, by the Law Society in 2010. An accountant’s report identified a €66,528 shortfall on the client account as at 31 March 2010. The report attributed part of it to a bank error and debit balances that were later cleared. It also recorded problems with the firm’s accounting records and practices.
The Tribunal first found misconduct after an inquiry in 2013. Following a judicial review challenge, the High Court ordered the matter remitted to the same Tribunal members to provide reasons, without a fresh hearing. After the inquiry resumed in December 2014, the Tribunal again found misconduct on the two accounting complaints.
Sheehan argued that the breaches were minor or accidental, that no client’s money was put at risk and that there had been no fraud or dishonesty. He also said a bank error contributed to one debit balance. The Law Society accepted that not every breach of the regulations amounts to misconduct, but argued that the scale and duration of the accounting failures, and the delay in correcting them, made these breaches serious enough.
The High Court said professional misconduct did not require dishonesty or fraud. It found that Sheehan’s “complete disregard” for the accounting rules over a prolonged period, together with tardiness in correcting defects after they were brought to his attention, tended to bring the profession into disrepute. The court said clients should be able to ascertain the status of their account at any time, which the firm’s haphazard accounting had prevented.
The court also clarified that its earlier decision in Law Society of Ireland v Curneen did not establish that misconduct requires deliberate fraud, conspiracy or dishonesty. It said that case turned on its own facts.
The Tribunal had recommended advice and admonishment, together with a payment of €5,000 plus VAT towards the Society’s costs. The High Court said that sanction reflected the lower end of the seriousness scale. It criticised the Tribunal for failing to publish the sanction details, which had left its decision open to an interpretation of grave misconduct, and dismissed Sheehan’s appeal.