Solicitor Disciplinary Tribunal Decisions

Details for Denise McNulty

Name

Denise McNulty

Address

Denise McNulty & Co, Solicitors, Zion Court, Zion Church Grounds, Rathgar, Dublin 6

Date of Order

20/03/2014

Decision

In the matter of Denise McNulty, solicitor, practising as Denise McNulty & Co, Solicitors, Zion Court, Zion Church Grounds, Rathgar, Dublin 6, and in the matter of the Solicitors Acts 1954-2011 [4457/DT113/13 and High Court record 2014 no 26SA]

Law Society of Ireland (applicant)

Denise McNulty (respondent solicitor)

On 16 January 2014, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found the respondent solicitor guilty in her practice as a solicitor in that she:

1)   Created a deficit in client funds of €194,007 as at 31 December 2012 by dishonestly and wrongly misappropriating client funds for her benefit,

2)   Created a further deficit in client funds of €25,076 as at 11 April 2013 – the total apparent deficit in client funds as at 11 April 2013 was €219,083 – by dishonestly and wrongly misappropriating client funds for her benefit, in particular:

a)   Misappropriated client moneys of €49,900 by transferring client moneys to the office bank account without the clients approval, in breach of regulation 7(1)(a)(iii) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

b)   Misappropriated client moneys of €18,500 by transferring client moneys to the office bank account without the clients approval, in breach of regulation 7(1)(a)(iii) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

c)   Misappropriated the proceeds of a sale in the amount of €25,000 by lodging same directly to the office bank account, in breach of regulation 4(1) and regulation 6(4) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

d)   Misappropriated the proceeds of a sale’s deposit in the amount of €36,000 by lodging same directly to the office bank account, in breach of regulation 4(1) and regulation 6(4) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

e)   Misappropriated client moneys by transferring client moneys to the office bank account of €3,655.80 over and above the amount due in relation to professional fees, in breach of regulation 7(1)(a)(iii) and regulation 11(3) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

f)   Misappropriated the proceeds of a sale’s deposit in the amount of €16,500 by lodging same directly to the office bank account, in breach of regulation 4(1) and regulation 6(4) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

g)   Misappropriated client moneys by lodging undischarged outlays totalling €1,615 to a personal bank account, in breach of regulation 4(1), regulation 4(2) and regulation 6(1) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

h)   Misappropriated client moneys by lodging settlement moneys of €6,050 directly to the office bank account, in breach of regulation 4(1) and regulation 6(4) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

i)   Misappropriated client moneys by lodging estate moneys of €1,659.85 directly to the office bank account, in breach of regulation 4(1) and regulation 6(4) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

j)   Misappropriated client moneys by lodging undischarged outlay of €2,096 directly to the office bank account, in breach of regulation 4(1), regulation 4(2) and regulation 6(1) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

k)   Misappropriated the proceeds of a sale’s deposit in the amount of €9,200 by lodging same directly to the office bank account, in breach of regulation 4(1) and regulation 6(4) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

l)    Misappropriated the proceeds of the balance of the booking deposit in the amount of €1,601.50, in breach of regulation 4(1) and regulation 6(4) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations – there was no evidence available to identify where the money was lodged,

m)  Misappropriated client moneys by transferring part of the sales proceeds of €28,527.54 to the office bank account without the client’s approval, in breach of regulation 7(1)(a)(iii) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

n)   Misappropriated client moneys by transferring €3,750 to the office bank account without the client’s approval, in breach of regulation 7(1)(a)(iii) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations,

3)   Sought to conceal the said deficit by falsifying the books of account through numerous instances of ‘teeming and lading’,

4)   Misled the Society at the commencement of the investigation by representing there was no deficit in client moneys;

5)   Misled her reporting accountant by representing that €51,500 paid into the client account was introduced as capital from her own personal funds to regularise the deficit, when the moneys were in fact taken out of settlement moneys in relation to other clients,

6)   Swore a false affidavit on 22 February 2013 to the effect that there was no deficit in the accounts of her practice and that there was no dishonesty involved in the management of her practice,

7)   Circumvented the signing arrangements, whereby her reporting accountant had to be a cheque signatory in addition to the respondent solicitor, by misappropriating €3,000 by way of online banking from client moneys on 19 February 2013, subsequent to the changing of the bank mandate,

8)   Dishonestly ‘updated’ the execution date on the stamping of a deed in a named client matter by approximately nine months,

9)   Dishonestly ‘updated’ the execution date on the stamping of a deed in a named client matter by approximately two months,

10) Deducted professional fees from stakeholder funds in the matters relating to named clients, as set out in the Society’s investigating accountant’s report and another named client as also set out in that report – this is also in breach of regulation 11(3) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations, as the moneys withdrawn were not properly payable to the solicitor at the time of withdrawal,

11) Breached regulation 10(2) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations by failing to pay moneys received in relation to professional fees into client or office account, instead lodging same to a personal account,

12) Breached regulation 10(4) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations by failure to record as a debit on the office side of the relevant clients’ ledger account the amount of professional fees in a matter referred to in the Society’s grounding affidavit,

13) Breached regulation 10(5) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations by allowing credit balances to arise on the office ledger, as set out in the Society’s investigating accountant’s report,

14) Breached regulation 12 of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations by failing to maintain proper books of account at all times that show the true financial position in relation to the solicitor’s transactions with client moneys,

15) Breached regulation 12(4) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations by failing to record each transaction with clients’ moneys and with any other moneys through the client account in the books of account, as set out in the Society’s investigating accountant’s report,

16) Breached regulation 12(3)(a) of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations by failing to maintain separate ledger cards for each matter dealt with, as set out in the Society’s investigating accountant’s report.

The tribunal ordered that the matter go forward to the High Court and, on 10 March 2014, the President of the High Court ordered:

1)   That the respondent solicitor not be permitted to practise as a sole practitioner or in partnership,

2)   That the respondent solicitor be permitted only to practise as an assistant solicitor in the employment and under the direct control and supervision of another solicitor of at least ten years’ standing, to be approved in advance by the Law Society of Ireland,

3)   That the respondent solicitor will never have signing rights either solely or jointly over any client account,

4)   That the respondent solicitor pay the sum of €5,000 to the compensation fund,

5)   That the respondent solicitor pay the whole of the Society’s costs of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal proceedings, with taxation in default of agreement

6)   That the respondent solicitor pay the costs of the application in the High Court.