Law Society-v-John Gerard O’Donnell
Interlocutor
Edinburgh 25 January 2010. The Tribunal having considered the substitute Complaint dated 16 October 2009 at the instance of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland against John Gerard O’Donnell, 15 Clarkston Road, Glasgow; Find the Respondent guilty of Professional Misconduct in respect of his permitting his own personal interest to influence his acting on behalf of a client, his failure to act on his client’s irrevocable instructions and in direct conflict with those irrevocable instructions by his borrowing £60,000 from his client rather than paying the sum to the brother of the client in terms of the mandate and his borrowing £60,000 from his client in breach of rule 21 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Accounts, etc Fund Rules 2001; Direct that Orders be issued under Section 53C(2) of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 in respect of Mr C, Ms D, Abbey National, Mr F and Ms G and Mr I; Censure the Respondent and Direct in terms of Section 53(5) of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 that for a period of five years any practising certificate held or issued to the Respondent shall be subject to such restriction as will limit him to acting as a qualified assistant to such employer as may be approved by the Council or the Practising Certificate Committee of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland, said restriction to run concurrent with his existing restriction; 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.
David Coull
Vice Chairman