Solicitor Disciplinary Tribunal Decisions

Details for Daniel (Donal) Downes

Name

Daniel (Donal) Downes

Address

O’Dea & Company, Solicitors, 1st floor, Hardiman House, Eyre Square, Galway

Date of Order

10/07/2017

Decision

In the matter of Daniel (Donal) Downes, a solicitor formerly practising as O’Dea & Company, Solicitors, 1st floor, Hardiman House, Eyre Square, Galway, and in the matter of the Solicitors Acts 1954-2011 [4298/DT46/14; 4298/DT87/14; 4298/DT89/15; and High Court record 2017/48 SA]

Law Society of Ireland (applicant)

Daniel (Donal) Downes (respondent former solicitor)

On 24 January 2017, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found the respondent former solicitor guilty of misconduct in his practice as a solicitor as follows:

4298/DT46/14

1)    Failed to comply with an undertaking furnished to ACC Bank on 2 June 2009 in respect of named borrowers and property at Co Galway in a timely manner or at all,

2)    Failed to respond to the Society’s correspondence and, in particular, the Society’s letters of 9 March 2013, 25 April 2013, 21 May 2013, and 2 September 2013 in a timely manner, within the time prescribed, or at all,

3)    Failed to comply with the directions made by the Complaints and Client Relations Committee at its meeting of 16 July 2013 that he:

a) Furnish certain information to the Society within 21 days of the date of the meeting,

b) Furnish a progress report to the committee on or before 14 September 2013, and that he

c) Furnish a further progress report to the committee on or before 14 November 2013,

4)    Failed to attend the Complaints and Client Relations Committee meeting of 3 December 2013, despite being required to so attend.

4298/DT87/14

1)    Forged the signature of one of the nominated cheque signatories on a number of client account cheques without her authority, thereby circumventing the arrangement in the practice that all cheques had to be signed by two assistant solicitors,

2)    Failed to have adequate supporting documentation on files to enable the vouching of transactions, in breach of regulation 12(1) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

3)    Caused backdated letters and documents to be created and placed on client files, some during the investigation of his practice,

4)    Provided information to the investigating accountant during his time in his office that subsequently proved to be false,

5)    Caused a false confirmation to be created on a file of a named client confirming an agreement to pay €85,000 to a named individual and forged his client’s signature on the confirmation,

6)    Paid approximately €15,000 too much from the client account to a named client and tried to conceal this by the creation of the false confirmation document,

7)    Failed to comply with anti-money-laundering procedures and had no or inadequate supporting documentation on file in relation to the receipt of €150,000 in cash in a named matter,

8)    Caused €206,000 to be paid from the client account in relation to a named client, thereby creating a debit balance of approximately €46,000,

9)    Caused or allowed the debit balance referred to in (8) above to be concealed by the backdating of a transfer of €46,000 from the client ledger account of another client,

10)  Caused a deed of partnership and a deed of dissolution of the partnership to be created on or about 8 May 2013, but backdated the deed of partnership to 6 January 2012 and caused a letter to be created on or about 21 November 2013 on the same file that was backdated to 10 May 2013 and that purported to send copies of the deeds to one of the clients,

11)  Failed to keep proper books of account.

4298/DT89/15

Failed to ensure that there was furnished to the Society a closing accountant’s report, as required by regulation 26(2) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2001 (SI 421 of 2001), in a timely manner or at all, having ceased practice on 28 April 2014.

The tribunal sent the matter forward to the High Court and, on Monday 10 July 2017, in proceedings 2017 no 48 SA, the High Court declared that the former respondent solicitor was not a fit person to be a member of the solicitors’ profession and ordered that the former respondent solicitor do pay:

1)   Within six months from the date hereof, the sum of €5,000 to the Law Society as a contribution towards the costs the Society incurred before the disciplinary tribunal,

2)   The costs of the Law Society in respect of the High Court application, such costs to be taxed in default of agreement – with execution to be stayed for 12 months from the date hereof.

The former respondent solicitor’s name had already been struck from the Roll of Solicitors by order of the High Court on 28 April 2014 in proceedings 2014 no 53 SA.