SME Law

Partner ruins firm with gambling addiction

In a clear demonstration of what not to do as a lawyer, a partner of a Dublin-based law firm has gambled away €2.5 million ($3.5 million) of his clients' money.According to RollOnFriday,…

November 05, 2010 • By Lawyers Weekly

In a clear demonstration of what not to do as a lawyer, a partner of a Dublin-based law firm has gambled away €2.5 million ($3.5 million) of his clients' money.

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According to RollOnFriday, partner Ruairi O'Ceallaigh's gambling addiction led to his father's firm Sean O'Ceallaigh & Co, which was set up more than 50 years ago, being wound up by the High Court after O'Ceallaigh admitted to gambling away the money.

Hearing that the firm's total liabilities could now be close to €6 million ($8.4 million), Justice Nicholas Kearns described the act as a "very serious fraud" and ordered the firm to be wound up.

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Not surprisingly, O'Ceallaigh's practising certificate was suspended and Justice Kearns ordered that he remain suspended pending disciplinary action by the Law Society, referring the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

According to RollOnFriday, this isn't the first time O'Ceallaigh's behaviour has caused controversy. O'Ceallaigh was recently exposed for running a betting syndicate for mates of former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern, and has been criticised for sending unsolicited letters to Dublin residents to drum up some more money.