Lawyer who said he lied on CV to impress his mother is disbarred

A City lawyer who lied about his education and legal qualifications – including membership of the Irish Bar – has been disbarred.

Last September, Dennis O’Riordan admitted professional misconduct when he appeared before the disciplinary tribunal of the Inns of Court, which suspended him for three years.

Mr O’Riordan said he started to make false claims in 2002 to make his estranged mother proud of him.

After his mother died in May 2007, he said no further false claims were invented.

The Bar Standards Board appealed, saying the sentence was unduly lenient. In January, the appeal was allowed, with Mr O’Riordan not contesting, and a sentence of disbarment was substituted.

The appeal had heard that in September 2012, Mr O’Riordan provided an expert report in High Court family division proceedings in which he said he had an Oxford first-class degree and a doctorate.