A Cork solicitor who claimed to be a partner in a firm of solicitors when giving an undertaking to a bank concerning a €127,000 loan to buy land, which he later failed to comply with, has been struck off the roll of solicitors by the High Court.
Greg Casey, of Casey and Co Solicitors, North Main Street, Bandon, Co Cork, had been restricted to operating as an assistant solicitor when he gave an undertaking to ACC Bank in 2001 “as a partner in the firm of Casey Company” for a loan to buy 100 acres at Allihies, Beara, Co Cork, the court was told.
President of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, said the Law Society viewed this as a particularly serious case requiring the ultimate sanction of being struck off in order to reassure the public the regulatory system is functioning.
A strike-off order was the only sanction adequate for such conduct, he said.
Further findings of professional misconduct were made by the Law Society disciplinary tribunal in relation to Mr Casey’s dealings with a number of clients.
Mr Justice Kearns said the matters taken together made “an overwhelming case” for the order and he also ruled Mr Casey should be liable for the society’s costs of the case.
In an affidavit, Mr Casey, suspended from practice since 2008, said an order was made by the High Court in 2011 to accede to his application to retire as a solicitor.
“It is obvious from this and my medical condition that I will not work as a solicitor ever again,” he said.
“I do not see how striking me off the roll now can in any way be seen as a necessary means of prevention of a repeat disciplinary offence or a further step that might be deemed necessary to protect the public.”
The disciplinary tribunal recommended Mr Casey be struck off after finding professional misconduct by him in misrepresenting to ACC that he was a partner in the practice of Casey Co and failing to comply with his undertaking to complete the legal formalities for the purchase of the property.