The High Court has dismissed an appeal seeking a disciplinary inquiry into allegations against solicitor Kevin J. White arising from the handling of funeral expenses after the death of Hannah Reen in 1985.
Patrick Reen appealed a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal decision that there was no prima facie case for an inquiry because of the length of time which had passed. A prima facie case means sufficient initial evidence to justify progressing to a formal inquiry; it is not a final finding of misconduct.
Mr Reen alleged that Mr White had been instructed to discharge his mother’s funeral expenses from her estate after she died on 7 February 1985. He claimed the solicitor gave three assurances that a cheque had been sent to the undertaker and alleged that he and the undertaker unsuccessfully attended the solicitor’s office on four occasions.
Mr Reen also relied on an affidavit sworn in June 2009 by Val O’Connor, director of the funeral home involved. Mr White denied the allegations, said he had no recollection of the events and stated that he had never met Mr O’Connor.
The disciplinary application was not made until 14 April 2009.
Mr Justice Kearns rejected Mr Reen’s argument that allegations characterised as fraudulent were not affected by the passage of time because fraud can also be a criminal matter. The court said no satisfactory explanation had been provided for the delay. An attempt to attribute it to difficulty finding legal representation was described as unconvincing.
The judge held that Mr White could not fairly be expected to defend allegations concerning events approximately 25 years earlier where the delay was attributable to the complainant.
The court found the tribunal’s decision entirely appropriate. It described the appeal as unfounded and unsustainable and dismissed it with costs in favour of Mr White.
The ruling did not determine whether the underlying allegations were true. It upheld the decision not to proceed to a misconduct inquiry because of the delay.