Dáil law committee members back plan for impartial legal ombudsman

A PLAN for greater public scrutiny of the country's 5,000 solicitors has won the powerful backing of members of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

A new national steering committee, calling itself the Victims of the Legal Profession (VLP), has been launched following publicity in the Sunday Independent.

And its key demand, that there should be an impartial ombudsman to deal with complaints against solicitors, has been guaranteed the support of opposition Dáil deputies.

The VLP complains that the Law Society of Ireland, which represents the profession, operates its own disciplinary tribunal, made up of its own members and run by its own employees.

Billy Timmins TD, Fine Gael's deputy spokesman on Justice and member of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, said that there was a need for an Ombudsman to probe complaints against solicitors.

"You can't be judge and jury in your own case and that is basically the situation with the legal profession at the moment. There is a clear need for an outside monitoring agency," he said.

Mr Timmins, who represents Wicklow, pointed out that one of the great modern buzzwords was "transparency" and this should apply to all professions.

"Many ordinary people are in awe of the profession and are afraid to complain. That is not acceptable," he added.

Jan O'Sullivan, Labour TD, who is also a member of the Oireachtas Justice Committee, said that the committee should investigate whether they required an outside body to deal with complaints against solicitors.

This investigation should be in the context of an examination of other organisations, which were obliged to allow outside bodies have a role in defending the public, declared Ms O'Sullivan, who represents Limerick East.

The VLP was formed following a news article in the Sunday Independent outlining a complaint by Mary McDonnell, of Poolboy House, Ballinasloe, Co Galway against a solicitor from the West.

Her complaint, which was rejected by the Law Society, was that the solicitor had handled a family inheritance "incompetently". He had a full legal team, but she had to represent herself before the Society.

The VLP, which held an initial meeting in Athlone, has a 22-member steering committee and a further meeting will be held in the second week in September to launch a national campaign.

Mrs McDonnell, a middle aged widow and a nurse in Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, said: "Our aim is to have an independent Ombudsman to deal with complaints against solicitors.

"There is an Ombudsman to investigate complaints against Government bodies, local authorities, health boards and other agencies, and another one to deal with disputes between banks and building societies and their individual customers. Why are solicitors exempt from independent scrutiny? This in no longer tolerable and we will be pressing the Government and the Oireachtas Committee on Justice to change this disgraceful state of affairs."

Mrs McDonnell said that the meeting in Athlone, attended by people from all over the country, revealed "absolutely appalling levels of distress" arising from the "unprofessional and unethical conduct of solicitors".

"The suffering of people is terrible; it is beyond belief," she declared. "The main complaint was about the processing of wills and the inheritance of property. This can drag on and on for 10 years, or more, while they are making interest on the money they are holding."