Claims of solicitors' conflict of interest

I have heard stories like this from friends, and it was raised recently and reported in today’s Irish Times. Basically people are coming in to solicitor’s offices and trying to force their elderly parent(s) to sign over land or property to them.

Ken Murphy, director-general of the Law Society, said there was a clear ethical obligation on any solicitor not to act in a situation where there was a conflict of interest between their clients.

“Certainly if there is a person with diminished capacity and that person is signing away an interest then in principle there should be separate and independent legal advice for both parties,” he said.

If a solicitor was acting for two parties where there was a conflict of interest he or she could face a professional misconduct hearing and there was also the possibility that the transaction the solicitor was involved in could be challenged at a later stage, he added.

Mr Murphy said anyone with concerns about solicitors acting in situations where they had a conflict of interest should report this to the Law Society. They should also seek independent legal advice “if they have suffered as a result of this situation”.

By the way it is Day 22 since reports of solicitors stealing money was first aired. Still no arrests.

2 thoughts on “Claims of solicitors' conflict of interest”

  1. yes, but we can rest assured that the law society are looking into it. They’ve already discredited many of the claims they are looking at saying they were legitimate charges for medical reports etc…but I’m *sure* someone will be called to account for it…yea, right..

  2. Great blog. The Gardai should have been involved. The Law Society is only ever concerned with covering its own ass, and its not even particularly good at that. It would be interesting to see a complete list of the firms guilty of theft. The public has to be protected from those practitioners.

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