A SOLICITOR who used his clients’ money to buy a holiday home and pay staff wages, has been barred from practising on his own for 10 years.

Daniel Hurley, a solicitor who owns a law firm in Galway city, was censured by the High Court after an investigation into his accounts by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, an independent body that deals with complaints against lawyers.

Hurley, who maintains a second firm in Westport, Co Mayo, was also found guilty of running up a €300,000 debt in his client account and using client funds to pay his own unpaid Vat and PAYE returns.

The lawyer refused to comment on the case. He was found guilty of defrauding the revenue by helping to get IR£80,000 in £20 notes, which was later used as an “under the counter” payment to buy a property for one of his clients.

“It is a very serious issue when solicitors are disciplined by the tribunal,” said Ken Murphy, director general of the Law Society, the regulatory body for solicitors in Ireland.

“At the lower end of the scale, they can be fined or forced to pay money into a compensation fund. Ultimately they can be faced with the option of being struck off the roll.”

Hurley is the fourth solicitor to be censured by the High Court this year. Last month, three were reprimanded and ordered to pay money into the solicitors’ compensation fund, which pays members of the public who lose money through lawyers’ dishonesty.

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