Brian Johnston
Allegation / charges
In the matter of Brian Johnston, a solicitor formerly practising as Brian Johnston & Co, Solicitors, 79 Park Street, Dundalk, Co Louth, and in the matter of the Solicitors Acts 1954-2008 [6927/DT64/10 and High Court record no 2011/81 SA] Law Society of Ireland (applicant) Brian Johnston (respondent solicitor) On 2 June 2011, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found the respondent solicitor guilty of misconduct in his practice as a solicitor in that he: a) Failed to maintain proper books of account in respect of his practice, b) Failed to furnish reporting accountant’s reports to the Society as required by the Solicitors’ Accounts Regulations 2001 , c) Falsely stated in his application for a practising certificate that a reporting accountant’s reports had been filed when in fact this had not been done, d) Allowed overpayments to be made to a number of clients, giving rise to a deficit on client accounts in excess of €700,000, e) Committed several breaches of regulation 7(2)(a) of the Solicitors’ Accounts Regulations 2001 by allowing debit balances to arise on the clients’ ledger account in respect of a client other than a debit balance that was totally offset by a credit balance arising on another clients’ ledger account in respect of the same client, f) Failed to make income tax returns in respect of his practice, g) Failed to make VAT returns in respect of his practice, h) Retained his name on the headed notepaper of his former practice, thus giving the impression he was still in practice at a time when he had been suspended from practising as a solicitor. The tribunal made the following recommendations: 1) The respondent solicitor is not a fit person to be a member of the solicitors’ profession, 2) The name of the respondent solicitor be struck off the Roll of Solicitors, 3) The respondent solicitor pay 50% of the costs of the Society, to be taxed by a taxing master of the High Court in default of agreement. In recognition of the respondent solicitor’s efforts to pay back the monies to clear the deficit and to regularise his affairs, the tribunal did not make any recommendation in regard to imposing a monetary penalty on him. On 17 October 2011, the President of the High Court ordered that: 1) The name of the respondent solicitor shall be struck from the Roll of Solicitors, 2) The Society do recover the costs of the proceedings before the High Court and the costs of the proceedings before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, to include witness expenses, as against the respondent solicitor when taxed or ascertained.
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found Brian Johnston guilty of misconduct on eight grounds, including failing to maintain proper books of account, failing to file reporting accountant's reports, falsely stating in a practising certificate application that reports had been filed, allowing overpayments causing a client account deficit exceeding €700,000, breaches of the Accounts Regulations, failing to make income tax and VAT returns, and retaining his name on notepaper while suspended. The tribunal found him unfit to be a solicitor and recommended he be struck off, declining a monetary penalty in recognition of his efforts to repay the deficit. On 17 October 2011 the President of the High Court ordered his name struck from the Roll and awarded the Society its costs of both the High Court and Tribunal proceedings, to be taxed.
Duties found breached:
- Prompt accounting and return of money
- Accounting records, reconciliation and reports
- Account for interest on client money
- Not misrepresent regulated status
Aggravating factors:
- Deficit on client accounts exceeding €700,000
- False statement in practising certificate application
- Continued to give impression of practising while suspended
Mitigating factors:
- Efforts to pay back monies to clear the deficit
- Efforts to regularise his affairs
⚠ 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/