A former employee of a Dublin solicitor's firm under investigation by the Law Society had, in a manner not agreed by the solicitor, secured commission for introducing new business, the High Court was told yesterday.
Mr Giles Kennedy, with a practice at Eccles Street, Dublin was being cross-examined by Mr Kevin Feeney SC, for the Law Society. Mr Kennedy has alleged the society, under the guise of looking at the practice's accounts, was seeking individuals making bogus claims. He is seeking damages and an order quashing the society's decision to order an inquiry by its disciplinary tribunal into his conduct. The society denies Mr Kennedy's allegations.
Yesterday, Mr Kennedy was asked if he believed, if the accounts of a solicitor were being falsified, that it called into question the nature and extent of the investigation required. Mr Kennedy said he would not accept that his accounts were being falsified. He said an employee had been paid commission in a manner not agreed by him. The amount involved over three years was about £24,000 and was very small in relation to the volume of business being conducted by the firm.
He said that about £1.56 million went through the accounts of the practice in 1993 (the year the Law Society investigator came to Mr Kennedy's premises) and the volume of business over three years would be about £4.5 million.
Mr Feeney asked what Mr Kennedy had meant when he claimed that the Law Society had a "hidden agenda" when its investigator arrived at his office.
Mr Kennedy said it occurred to him that the investigator was operating from a list in her possession and was seeking to inquire into the affairs of clients. She appeared to be gathering information and he did not know if this information was for the Law Society or other parties.
The hearing continues today.