A solicitor has been given a suspension – suspended for two years if he can comply with a two-year restriction order – after he failed to comply with a tribunal order and did not take ‘adequate’ steps to comply with accounts rules.
Paul Michael Ireland, admitted in July 2000, was a sole practitioner trading under Paul Ireland Solicitors, based in Warrington, at the time of the alleged misconduct.
In an agreed outcome, Ireland admitted the four allegations against him. He was found to have failed to comply with an order of the tribunal; maintained books of account showing a £38,988.61 cash shortage at the end of January 2022; and, in his capacity as compliance officer for legal practice and compliance officer for finance and administration, failed to take adequate steps to ensure the firm’s compliance with its regulatory obligations under SRA Accounts Rules 2019 and that the firm complied with the tribunal’s September 2020 order in a timely manner.
Ireland also admitted that in relation to one client, he transferred client money from the client account to the office account on seven occasions without first delivering a bill or other written notification of costs.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal said the seriousness of Ireland’s misconduct was ‘high’ and his ‘repeated breaches’ of the SRA accounts rules had ‘caused harm not only to Client A but to the reputation of the profession’.
The agreed outcome judgment said: ‘Client money is sacrosanct. The respondent’s failure to comply with the earlier order also had the potential of undermining the authority of the tribunal and diminishing public trust and confidence in the profession.’
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It added: ‘The respondent, as the sole owner and manager of the firm, was in direct control of the client account and was aware, or should have been aware, of shortages which had persisted from the date of the previous FIO’s report. The respondent was an experienced solicitor who would have been expected to understand and comply.’
The SDT acknowledged Ireland’s 'open and frank admissions' and his 'full cooperation during the court of the investigation and the proceedings'.
Suspending Ireland, the tribunal said a suspension was appropriate ‘in order to protect the public and the reputation of the profession from future harm’.
But the year-long suspension is suspended for a period of two years, subject to Ireland’s compliance with a restriction order throughout that period. The restrictions include that Ireland cannot be a compliance officer for a legal practice or for finance and administration; he will file annual accountant’s reports with the SRA and will file an accountant’s report when he closes a client account. Ireland must also close all of the firm’s client accounts within two months.
Ireland was also ordered to pay £27,000 costs.
