Decision record
Jacqueline M Durcan
Allegation / charges
In the matter of Jacqueline M Durcan, solicitor, formerly practising as Durcan’s Solicitors, No 1 Hazel Grove, Spencer Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo, and in the matter of the Solicitors Acts 1954-2008 [7083/DT14/12 and 2014 no 80 SA] Law Society of Ireland (applicant) Jacqueline M Durcan (respondent solicitor) On 17 September 2013 and 25 March 2014, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found the respondent solicitor guilty of misconduct in her practice as a solicitor in that she: a) Caused/allowed a deficit of €259,816 in the client account as of 11 March 2011 to exist, b) Caused/allowed funds of €90,000 from the client account to be used to finance/pay for interest and penalties on clients’ unstamped and updated deeds, c) Caused/allowed funds of €24,500 from the client account to be used to part finance/pay the firm’s PI insurance cost, at €25,223 for 2010, d) Caused/allowed funds of €51,500 from the client account to be used to finance/pay stamp duty arising from the purchase of the respondent solicitor’s principal private residence, e) Caused/allowed funds of €42,500 from the client account to be used to finance/pay the firm’s PI insurance for 2011, and f) Caused/allowed funds from the client account to be used as general working capital for her practice. The tribunal ordered that the matter go forward to the High Court, and the President of the High Court, on 28 July 2014, made the following orders by consent: a) That the name of the respondent solicitor shall be struck from the Roll of Solicitors, b) That the Society do recover the costs of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal proceedings as against the respondent when taxed or ascertained, c) That the Society do recover the costs of the costs of the High Court application 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 solicitor Jacqueline M Durcan guilty of misconduct for causing a €259,816 deficit in the client account and misusing client funds for stamp duty, PI insurance, and working capital. The matter went to the High Court, which on 28 July 2014, by consent, ordered her name struck from the Roll of Solicitors and awarded the Society its costs of both the Tribunal and High Court proceedings when taxed or ascertained. No express finding of dishonesty was recorded.
Duties found breached:
⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["extracted_from_register_summary"]
Duties engaged
Other decisions involving this respondent
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Documents
No documents recorded.
Source: https://www.lawsociety.ie/Public/disciplinarysearch?viewAll=True