Naas Solicitors Censured and Fined €30,000 Over Misconduct

Two County Kildare solicitors have been formally censured and ordered to pay a combined €30,000 in penalties following findings of professional misconduct by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. The determinations, delivered against Andrew Coonan and Susanna Cawley of the Naas-based practice Coonan Cawley, follow a disciplinary application brought by the Law Society of Ireland under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015. Both practitioners were found guilty of seven separate allegations involving accounting non-compliance, conflict-of-interest breaches in property conveyancing, and the unauthorised deduction of legal fees from a client settlement award.

Serious Accounting Breaches and Client Ledger Deficits

The tribunal heard detailed evidence concerning persistent non-compliance with the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2014, which serve as the foundation of client financial protection within the Irish legal framework. Under these statutory rules, solicitors are subject to strict fiduciary duties to ensure client funds remain segregated, transparent, and accounted for down to the cent. The tribunal established that the respondents withdrew money when the firm was not in funds to do so, in direct contravention of Regulation 7(1), whilst also allowing deficit balances to arise on client ledger accounts contrary to Regulation 7(2).

Furthermore, the tribunal identified breaches of Regulations 9(4) and 12(3) concerning the withdrawal of professional fees. The respondents drew funds for fees that were either not properly payable to the practice or were taken at a time when the practice lacked the funds to support the withdrawal. In some instances, money was improperly taken from stakeholder funds, a practice strictly prohibited due to the special escrow nature of stakeholder accounts during ongoing legal or property transactions.

Documentation Failures and Unauthorised Fee Deductions

Beyond ledger deficits and premature fee withdrawals, the inquiry revealed significant documentation deficiencies at the Wolfe Tone House practice. Under Regulation 13 of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations, legal practitioners must keep robust, contemporaneous records to demonstrate that clients have received cash disbursements. The respondents failed to maintain sufficient supporting documentation to vouch that cash payments were handed over to clients, representing a serious departure from regulatory standards designed to maintain auditing transparency and deter financial mismanagement.

Of particular significance to personal injury and civil litigation claimants, the tribunal found both practitioners guilty of deducting professional fees from a settlement sum without written client authorisation. Under Section 68(3) of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994, a solicitor acting in contentious legal business is legally barred from extracting their fees directly from damages or settlement monies unless the client has provided clear, informed, written consent. When claimants resolve disputes—whether through the Injuries Resolution Board, formal court actions, or out-of-court settlements—statutory protections exist to guarantee that the claimant receives full transparency regarding deductions, safeguarding net compensation awards from unapproved charges.

Conveyancing Conflicts and Statutory Penalties

The disciplinary tribunal also made findings regarding professional conduct during real estate transactions. Both solicitors were found to have acted for both parties in a conveyance executed for less than market value, constituting an explicit breach of the Solicitors (Professional Practice, Conduct and Discipline - Conveyancing Conflict of Interest) Regulation 2012. Legal practitioners in Ireland are prohibited from representing both the buyer and the seller in transactions where an undervalue or non-commercial dynamic exists, as such arrangements inevitably compromise the duty of undivided loyalty and independent advice owed to each client.

Concluding the proceedings under record number 2024-LPDT09, the tribunal imposed three distinct orders on each respondent under Section 82 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015. Andrew Coonan and Susanna Cawley each received a formal censure under Section 82(1)(c), placing a permanent disciplinary sanction on their professional records. In addition, each solicitor was directed under Section 82(1)(l) to pay €10,000 into the Law Society Compensation Fund—a statutory fund maintained to protect the public from legal malpractice losses—and to pay €5,000 under Section 82(1)(j) as a contribution toward the Law Society’s legal costs, resulting in a total financial penalty of €15,000 each.