The High Court has rejected a claim for damages brought against the Law Society by a Dublin solicitor, Mr Giles Kennedy, arising from the society's appointment of an accountant to investigate Mr Kennedy's practice.
The Supreme Court held in April 2001 that that part of the accountant's investigation relating to the possibility of fraudulent claims in Mr Kennedy's practice was in excess of the society's powers. In a further judgment of December 2001, the Supreme Court held the decision to appoint the accountant was invalid and should be quashed and it returned the matter to the High Court to determine the issue of what damages, if any, should be paid to Mr Kennedy.
In his reserved judgment dismissing Mr Kennedy's claim for damages yesterday, Mr Justice Kearns said information available to the Law Society at the time of the accountant's appointment could only be seen as providing a reasonable cause, and not a malicious one, for the Law Society to act by way of investigation.
The judge said the information he was referring to was information from reliable sources indicating a connection between Mr Kennedy and Rossi Walsh, a notorious criminal, who had referred 22 claims to Mr Kennedy's office.
The judge said the society's investigation of Mr Kennedy was in no sense untimely and an additional factor considered was a history of 23 complaints against the practice over the preceding seven years.
Mr Kennedy contended that the initial non-disclosure of the "hidden agenda" of the society was indicative of bad faith. The judge said he, however, preferred the explanation by a Law Society witness that the reason for non-disclosure was to protect the investigation from the possibility that files might be removed.
Mr Justice Kearns said he found Mr Kennedy had fallen short, on the balance of probabilities, of establishing a case that the society had actual knowledge of or was recklessly indifferent to the possibility that it lacked appropriate statutory powers.
Among the factors which persuaded him to this conclusion was that the Law Society, at the time of its decision to investigate, had available to it information indicating a connection between Mr Kennedy and Rossi Walsh.