Law Society-v-John Gerard O'Donnell

Procedural Decision Interlocutor dated 28 OCtober 2011:

Edinburgh 28 October 2011.  The Tribunal Repelled the Respondent’s second and third preliminary pleas and after hearing evidence in connection with the Proof before Answer, also Repelled the Respondent’s first preliminary plea and adjourned the case to a procedural hearing on 15 December 2011; The Tribunal Reserve the question of expenses until the outcome of the substantive hearing and Direct that publicity will be given to this decision and that this publicity should include the name of the Respondent.

 Malcolm McPherson

  Vice Chairman

Procedural Decision Interlcutor dated 20 December 2016:

Edinburgh 20 December 2016.  The Tribunal in respect of five Complaints, namely DC/11/05 dated January 2011, DC/11/26 dated 19 September 2011, DT/15/29 dated 30 September 2015, DT/16/07 dated 1 March 2015, and DT/16/08 dated 1 March 2016 all    at the instance of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland against John Gerard O’Donnell, formerly at 14 Winton Drive, Glasgow and now residing at Flat 1/2, 322 Kelvindale Road, Glasgow; Refuse the motions by the Respondent to dismiss the Complaints on the basis of delay (Article 6 ECHR); the constitution of the Tribunal (Article 6 ECHR); freedom of association (Article 20 UDHR and Article 11 ECHR); equality of arms and lack of legal representation (Article 6 ECHR); mora, taciturnity and acquiescence; and res judicata; and Order that a hearing of the conjoined Complaints be heard on 15 February 2017 at 10:30am.

 Nicholas Whyte

  Chairman

Interlocutor dated 15 February 2017:

Edinburgh 15 February 2017.  The Tribunal having considered the Complaints at the instance of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland against John Gerard O’Donnell, formerly of 14 Winton Drive, Glasgow and now residing at Flat 1/2, 322 Kelvindale Road, Glasgow; Find the Respondent guilty of professional misconduct in cumulo in respect of six complaints; specifically in relation to Complaint DC/11/05, his delay unreasonably to respond to the reasonable enquiries of the Complainers; between 18 June 2007 and 18 July 2007 his unreasonable delay/failure to respond to requests, written and verbal, from Firm A, the solicitor who took over acting for his client, Bank 1; his failure to comply with the Guidelines on Mandates 1998 issued by the Complainers; his failure to comply with a Letter of Obligation given to Firm B to deliver two Discharges of Inhibition, within seven days of 29 August 2008; between 26 March 2008 and January 2011 unreasonable delay/failure to respond to requests from and to return title deeds to Mr H, who was the solicitor acting on the other side of a potential commercial property transaction; his misleading Ms I by expressly or implying suggesting in his letter of 3 June 2009 that he was the Partner of the firm of John G O’Donnell when knew that that was not the case and that effective as of 1 June 2009 his Practising Certificate had been restricted in terms of a prior determination of the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal; his failure to act in the best interests of his client, Mr M by failing to make any meaningful progress or take significant active steps to progress his personal injury claim between August 1994 to July 2002 when the file was taken over by his business partner; between August 1994 and May 2002 the deliberate misleading of Mr M and/or his mother, Mrs P, on numerous occasions, in relation to the progress that was being made on his case and in particular that he was attending to the necessary work when he was not;  his misleading Mr Q by expressly or implying suggesting in his letter of 25 August 2009 that he was the partner of the firm of John G O’Donnell when he knew that that was not the case and that effective as of 1 June 2009 his practising certificate had been restricted in terms of a prior determination of the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal; his unreasonable delay/failure to respond to the reasonable requests of the Trustee between 9 August 2007 and 31 January 2011; his unreasonable failure/delay from 8 August 2007 to 16 November 2007 to respond to the reasonable enquiries of the Trustee; in relation to Complaint DC/11/26, his failure to comply with an undertaking given to Firm I to deliver the appropriate SDLT Form;  his unreasonable delay in responding to the reasonable enquiries of the Complainers during the period 9 October 2009 to 10 August 2010; in relation to Complaint DT/15/29, his behaviour contrary to Rules 1, 5 and 7 of the Code of Conduct for Scottish Solicitors 2002; his behaviour contrary to the terms of Rule 1 of the schedule attached to the Solicitors (Scotland)(Standards of Conduct and Practice) Rules 2008; his actings contrary to the common law principle of honesty and integrity expected of a Scottish solicitor; his failure to properly reply timeously or at all to the reasonable enquiries made of him by the Complainers; in relation to Complaint DT/16/07, his actings contrary to the basic principal of honesty and integrity expected of Scottish Solicitors and his failure unreasonably to respond to the reasonable enquiries of the Complainers; in relation to Complaint DT/16/08 his actings contrary to the basic principal that a solicitor should be a person of honesty and integrity and his failure to reply to the reasonable enquiries of the Complainers; in relation to Complaint DT/16/30, his actings contrary to the basic principal of honesty and integrity expected of practising Scottish Solicitors, his actings contrary to Rule B1.2 of The Law Society of Scotland Practice Rules 2011 and his unreasonable failure to respond to the reasonable enquiries of the complainers; Direct that Orders be issued under Section 53C(2) of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 in respect of Ms A, Ms E and Mr Q; Order that the name of the Respondent be Struck Off the Roll of Solicitors in Scotland; Direct in terms of Section 53(6) of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 that this order shall take effect on the date on which the written findings are intimated to the Respondent; Find the Respondent liable in the expenses of the Complainers and of the Tribunal including expenses of the Clerk, chargeable on a time and line basis as the same may be taxed by the Auditor of the Court of Session on an agent and client, client paying basis in terms of Chapter Three of the last published Law Society’s Table of Fees for general business with a unit rate of £14.00; and Direct that publicity will be given to this decision and that this publicity should include the name of the Respondent but need not identify any other person and that publicity should be deferred pending the outcome of associated proceedings or confirmation that there will be none.

 Nicholas Whyte

Chairman

Compensation Interlocutor dated 7 September 2017:

Edinburgh 7 September 2017.  The Tribunal having considered the Complaint at the instance of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland against John Gerard O’Donnell, Flat 1/2, 322 Kelvindale Road, Glasgow and having previously determined that the Respondent was guilty of professional misconduct, Find that the Secondary Complainer has been directly affected by the Respondent's misconduct and considered that it was appropriate to award compensation to the Secondary Complainer: Ordain the Respondent in terms of Section 53(2)(bb) of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 to pay to Mrs EE £4,500 by way of compensation in respect of inconvenience and distress resulting from the misconduct within 28 days of the date on which this Interlocutor becomes final with interest at the rate of 8% per annum from the due date until paid; Find the Respondent liable in the expenses of the Secondary Complainer to the extent of £100 and of the Tribunal including expenses of the Clerk, chargeable on a time and line basis as the same may be taxed by the Auditor of the Court of Session on an agent and client, client paying basis in terms of Chapter Three of the last published Law Society’s Table of Fees for general business with a unit rate of £14.00; and Direct that publicity will be given to this decision and that this publicity should include the name of the Respondent but should not name the Secondary Complainer or otherwise identify her and that publicity should be deferred pending the outcome of associated proceedings or confirmation that there will be none.

Nicholas Whyte

 Chairman

NOTE:

The Tribunal agreed on 19 February 2019 that these decisions could be published.