The Law Society is withdrawing complaints to the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal about solicitors who were alleged to have overcharged institutional abuse victims who attended the Residential Institutions Redress Board, The Irish Timeshas learned. Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Editor, reports.
This follows a High Court judgment last July that set aside a decision of the Law Society's Complaints and Client Relations Committee (CCR) to refer a firm of solicitors to the tribunal for overcharging.
The case arose from the investigation of two complaints made by two abuse victims against their solicitors, Gary O'Driscoll and Grattan D'Esterre Roberts. Each had appeared before the redress board and received compensation. The solicitors had submitted bills to the redress board, and received amounts between €2,000 and €3,000 less than the amount billed.
They accepted this and billed their clients for the balance. When this was queried, they offered to discuss the matter.
In the meantime the two people had initiated complaints with the Law Society, whose CCR committee decided to refer the matter to the tribunal. The solicitors challenged this decision in the High Court.
In July last year Mr Justice Liam McKechnie found that the CCR committee's decision was wrong on two grounds: that it did not seek first to resolve the dispute between the two clients and their solicitor, in accordance with the relevant legislation; and that the CCR committee was objectively biased, in the light of public comments from one of its members, Carmel Foley. The full written judgment became available in December.
Ms Foley had been reported in the media as saying she had called an emergency meeting of the Law Society to discuss the issue of overcharging of abuse survivors, adding: "I think it is nothing short of scandalous if solicitors are taking money over and above the fees which they are also getting."
Outlining the background to this controversy, Mr Justice McKechnie commented that the Law Society was taking "a stance more reminiscent of guilt than innocence".
Earlier this month the Law Society wrote to redress board applicants who had brought complaints to the society about their solicitors, and where these had been sent to the tribunal, saying: "In the light of the High Court judgment in the O'Driscoll case, the committee has decided to conduct a review of its decision to send your complaint to the disciplinary tribunal." It stressed that this decision would have no effect on the refunds that had already been made.
That review will take place on March 4th next, when the committee will reconsider its original decisions. The letter stated that the solicitors involved would be present at the meeting, and that the complainants could attend if they wished, though this was not necessary.
In response to a query about this letter, the Law Society told The Irish Timesthat it had obtained legal advice advising that it had to reconsider its decisions in the light of the High Court judgment.