Matthew Breslin
Allegation / charges
In the matter of Matthew Breslin, solicitor, practising as Donal J O’Neill & Co, Solicitors, 3 Denny Street, Tralee, Co Kerry, and in the matter of the Solicitors Acts 1954-2008 [7159/DT123/09 and 2011 no 49 SA] Law Society of Ireland (applicant) Matthew Breslin (respondent solicitor) On 24 March 2011, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found the respondent solicitor guilty of misconduct in his practice as a solicitor in that he: a) Failed in a timely fashion or at all to honour an undertaking contained in a letter dated 4 April 2006 to the complainant, whereby he undertook to lodge with the complainant the net proceeds of sale of residential units from a development in Co Laois when the sales were completed, b) Failed to adequately respond to the complainant’s letters to him and, in particular, letters dated 1 May 2008, 5 June 2008, 1 July 2008, 27 August 2008 and 2 September 2008 respectively, c) Failed to adequately respond to the Society’s correspondence, in particular letters dated 6 October 2008, 26 November 2008, and 16 January 2009. The tribunal made the following recommendations: 1) That the respondent solicitor was not a fit person to be a member of the solicitors’ profession, 2) That the name of the respondent solicitor be struck off the Roll of Solicitors, 3) That the respondent solicitor pay the whole of the costs of Society, to include witness expenses, to be taxed by the taxing master of the High Court in default of agreement. On 16 May 2011, the High Court made an order in the following terms, on foot of an application by the Society to bring the report and order of the disciplinary tribunal to the President of the High Court: 1) That the name of the respondent solicitor be struck from the Roll of Solicitors, 2) That the Society do recover the costs of the proceedings, to include witness expenses, before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal as against the respondent when taxed or ascertained.
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found Matthew Breslin guilty of misconduct for failing to honour an undertaking to lodge proceeds of sale, and failing to respond adequately to the complainant's and the Society's correspondence. The tribunal found him not a fit person to remain in the profession and recommended he be struck off. On 16 May 2011 the High Court ordered his name struck from the Roll of Solicitors and that he pay the Society's costs including witness expenses, to be taxed. No express finding of dishonesty was recorded.
Duties found breached:
- No improper communication with the court
- Complaints procedure and handling
- Safeguard documents and limit liens
⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["extracted_from_register_summary"]
Duties engaged
Documents
No documents recorded.
Source: https://www.lawsociety.ie/Public/disciplinarysearch/