CLAIMS totalling over £11 million have been made against the estate of Mr Jonathan Philip Toppin Brooks, a solicitor who took his own life in 1992, the High Court was told yesterday.
The affairs of Mr Brooks, of Annamoe, Co Wicklow, have been under investigation by the Law Society since his death.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Shanley gave permission to Dublin solicitor Mr Maurice E. Curran to act as administrator of the estate.
Mr Curran, in an affidavit, said he had been investigating, with the Compensation Fund of the Law Society, claims against the estate of the deceased which arose in his professional capacity as a solicitor.
Such claims, said Mr Curran, amounted to more than £11 million and were, in many cases, the subject of continuing scrutiny.
To date inquiries had led to the admission by the Compensation Fund of claims worth £6.104 million up to November last year and the rejection of claims worth £5.194 million.
Mr Curran said he had devoted considerable time to claims remaining under investigation. There was no early prospect of a resolution because of litigation. He believed he now had almost all the information he was likely to be able to acquire and anticipated he would not need a renewal of the administration grant beyond the one granted yesterday.
Mr Curran said he had been able to collect £196,000 from Mr Brooks's pension funds and insurance policies and would later be looking for court directions as to the disbursement of those monies.
In December, 1994, Anglo Irish Bank Corporation brought High Court proceedings, claiming that shortly after the death of Mr Brooks it discovered it had suffered losses on advances it made to him because the undertakings given by Mr Brooks were worthless.