Solicitor Disciplinary Tribunal Decisions

Details for Kathleen Doocey

Name

Kathleen Doocey

Address

KM Doocey Solicitors, American Street, Belmullet, Co Mayo,

Date of Order

16/11/2020

Decision

In the matter of Kathleen Doocey, a solicitor practising as KM Doocey Solicitors at American Street, Belmullet, Co Mayo, and in the matter of the Solicitors Acts 1954-2015 [2018/DT83 and High Court 2020 no 40 SA]

Law Society of Ireland (applicant)

Kathleen Doocey (respondent solicitor)

On 23 July 2019, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found the respondent solicitor guilty of misconduct in her practice as a solicitor in that she:

• Allowed a deficit of €169,152 to arise and be on her client account as of 31 December 2017,
• Concealed a deficit of €50,000 in relation to the C estate by using other clients’ money credited to their ledger account, thereby concealing that deficit,
• Put a statement of account dated 1 September 2015 on the client’s file that showed an incorrect sale price of €255,000, instead of the actual sale price of €205,000, and also showed a total of €100,000 paid to clients, which had the effect of concealing the irregularities in relation to this matter,
• Used €42,720 received from a client (JD) in respect of a purchase, which helped conceal the deficit that had arisen in relation to the C estate matter, leaving a shortfall of €42,658.50 on the JD client ledger account,
• Used €42,195.57 from the OD estate to help clear the deficit on the JD ledger account and thereby caused a shortfall on the OD estate ledger account,
• Took €37,831.78 from the estate of S (deceased) and credited that sum to the OD estate ledger account, which helped conceal the shortfall on that ledger account,
• Cleared the debit balance of €33,177 on the S estate ledger account with a transfer of that amount dated 30 June 2017 from the Suspense SUS16 client ledger account, which concealed the shortfall on the S estate ledger account and left a shortfall on the SUS16 client ledger account,
• Cleared the shortfall on the Suspense SUS16 client ledger account by the transfer of €35,900 dated 30 June 2017 from the client account of JG, which left a shortfall on his client ledger account,
• Cleared the shortfall on the JG client ledger account by a transfer of €35,900 from another client ledger, Suspense account SUS17, which left a debit balance on that ledger account, thereby concealing the shortfall on the JG client ledger account,
• Transferred €24,850 from the DC client ledger account to the Suspense SUS17 client account with a date of 13 December 2017, which contributed to a shortfall of €25,000 on the DC client ledger account,
• Paid €25,000 from the client account on 21 December 2017 to the Legal Aid Board on DC’s behalf, but failed to enter this payment in the books of account,
• Took €24,000 out of a sum of €64,659.06 received into the client account from MD, a client, on 11 July 2017 and lodged the amount to the office bank account on 12 July 2017 and failed to record the receipt and payment of this sum in the client books of account, thereby concealing the misappropriation,
• Wrongfully credited the €24,000 taken from MD’s money in the account to the office ledger account of the Suspense SUS17 account, describing it as “rectification” and wrongfully described the lodgment of €24,000 as “loan funds” in the office bank account,
• Wrongfully paid the sum of €8,581.41 from the client account to the office account and described it as “rectification” in the office bank account; on the same date, the €8,581.41 payment from the client account was debited to the Suspense SUS17 client ledger account and caused a debit balance on the SUS17 client ledger account to increase from €4,251.24 to €12,835.65,
• Misdescribed the sum of €34,772.30 in the client account books, which helped conceal the fact that it was mainly composed of clients’ money used to clear debit balances and deficits on other clients’ ledger accounts,
• Caused a debit balance of €18,225 to occur on the MD client ledger account in August 2017, mainly because of the misapplication of €24,000, and subsequently cleared this debit balance with a transfer dated 28 December 2017 of €18,225 from the Suspense SUS17 client ledger account,
• Lodged a total of €26,000 to the client account on 23 November 2017, composed of €13,500 belonging to BN clients and €12,500 belonging to BC client, which was incorrectly credited to the Suspense SUS17 client leger account, where it cleared a debit balance and was used with other clients’ moneys to cover various deficits on various client leger accounts, thereby concealing the shortfall and deficits on the client account,
• Between January and December 2017, drew various amounts totalling €20,090 from the client account to the office account and paid a probate fee of €319 out of the client account, resulting in a debit balance of €18,459 on the client ledger account of the TS estate,
• In January 2018, after clearance of the debit balance of €18,459, paid a further €6,150 and €4,920 from the TS estate to the office account, leaving a sum of €11,070 remaining to be refunded to the client account in relation to that estate as of January 2018,
• In the C estate, failed to enter a client account cheque for €4,322 written on 24 November 2017 in the books of accounts and, instead, the same amount was dated 1 November and was debited to the estate client ledger account and credited to the Suspense SUS17 client ledger account, with the effect of reducing the debit balance on that ledger account and increasing the debit balance on the C estate ledger account,
• Failed to show a receipt of €5,750 in the client ledger account of LOC client, notwithstanding the payment of same in September 2017, and credited this sum of €5,750 in the books of account to a number of clients’ ledger accounts in various amounts, thereby reducing the debit balances on those accounts,
• Drew amounts totalling €10,698 to the office account in the period 2015 to 2017, which were debited to the client ledger account of the C estate, leaving a shortfall of €6,177 as of 31 December 2017 in the C estate,
• Having received €5,000 into the client account of PR client in December 2017 for the purposes of discharging a liability in that amount in a family law matter, failed to pay that money until 2018, and instead moved the €5,000 to the credit of the Suspense SUS17 client ledger account with a date of 31 December 2017, thereby concealing a shortfall on that account,
• Drew amounts from the client account to the office account in the period February 2016 to December 2017 in the estate of JOD, exceeding the amount of costs agreed with the client by about €20,000.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal ordered that the Law Society bring its findings and report before the High Court.

On 16 November 2020, the High Court ordered that:

• The respondent solicitor’s name be struck off the Roll of Solicitors,
• The respondent solicitor pay a fine of €2,000 to the compensation fund,
• The respondent solicitor pay costs of €1,500 for the proceedings before the disciplinary tribunal,
• The respondent pay agreed costs of €11,527 for the proceedings before the High Court.