206 / 432
GAZETTE
JULY 1994
client had applied to the Law Society
to retire and the Society had acceded
to his application. The article reported
that Mr. Keane had stated in his
affidavit that he had realised the
enormity of what he had done. Some
time afterwards, the Law Society had
carried out an inspection of his
practice. The will and probate were
not part of the enquiry. Mr. Keane
went on to say "I broke down and
disclosed to the Law Society what I
had down to create the will. Shortly
afterwards I retired from practice as a
solicitor." Judge Kevin Lynch granted
the application to condemn the will
and directed that all papers be sent to
the Disciplinary Committee of the
Law Society.
The following day the
Irish
Independent
reported that William
Keane could face penalties ranging
from censure to striking off the Roll
of Solicitors. The Law Society was
quoted as saying that the Disciplinary
Committee of the High Court would
investigate the matter and on foot of
its findings the Society would petition
the President of the High Court "for
an appropriate sanction, if any".
The matter was the subject of a full-
page story in
The Kerryman
on 19
May which claimed that playwright,
John B Keane,
had paid out £20,000
restitution following the discovery of
irregularities in his son's legal
practice at the end of 1992. A
spokeswoman for the Law Society
was quoted as saying that at the time
of the investigation of Mr. Keane's
practice the concern of the Law
Society had been to protect the public
and clients. A number of
considerations had been taken into
account in determining the Society's
approach to the case including
extraordinary, extenuating,
compassionate circumstances, the fact
that Mr. Keane had given a binding
and irrevocable undertaking never to
practise again and that full restitution
had been made and no claim had
arisen on the Society's Compensation
Fund.
The
Irish Independent
reported on
the matter in a similar manner on
20 May.
All the national newspapers of 19
May reported that a former solicitor,
Gerard Martin,
was given a
suspended two year gaol sentence on
charges relating to the pursuit of false
personal injury claims. The reports
noted that Mr. Martin had paid back
£180,000 to the Law Society arising
from claims on its Compensation
Fund, had co-operated with a Law
Society investigation and had handed
back his practising certificate.
Courts Charter
The Irish Times
of 21 April, reported
on a call by Fine Gael Justice
Spokesman,
Gay Mitchell
TD, that the
legislature, in consultation with the
judiciary, should provide for a charter
of rights for citizens appearing before
the courts. Mr. Mitchell said that
while the courts must remain
independent of the legislature and the
Government, this did not mean that
went on in them, especially their
administration, might not be of
legitimate interest to the legislature
and the Government. The charter
should include a promise of
efficiency, an overhaul of procedures
to speed-up proceedings, a guarantee
of courtesy and consideration, a
guarantee of privacy and
confidentiality for non-accused
persons and a complaints procedure.
Barbara Cahalane
•
C o m p e n s a t i on F u n d P a y m e n t s - M a y , 1 9 9 4
The following claim amounts were
admitted by the Compensation Fund
Committee and approved for payment
by the Council of the Law Society at
its meeting in May 1994.
The name of the solicitor in respect of
whom the claim(s) arose is listed in
the left hand column.
IR£
Michael Dunne,
2,109.62
63/65 Main Street,
Blackrock,
Co. Dublin
John M. O'Dwyer,
14,838.20
40 North Great Georges St.,
Dublin 1.
Diarmuid Corrigan,
6 St. Agnes Road,
Crumlin,
Dublin 12.
Christopher
Forde,
52 O'Connell Street,
Ennis,
Co. Clare.
Jonathan PT Brooks,
17/18 Nassau Street,
Dublin 2.
John K. Brennan,
Mayfield,
Enniscorthy,
Co. Wexford.
200.00
1,690.00
9,900.00
2,437.50
Malocco & Killeen,
Chatham House,
Chatham Street,
Dublin 2.
James C Glynn,
Dublin Road,
Tuam,
Co. Galway.
Anthony O'Malley,
James Street,
Westport,
Co. Mayo.
36,268.77
1,170.00
2,209.00
70,823.09
182