One of the top lawyers in the City has been exposed as having lied about his entire education and his Bar qualifications.
On Monday Dennis O'Riordan was suspended for three years by the Bar Tribunals and Disciplinary Service for lying on his CV and on his former chambers' websites and professional profiles. He had claimed that he had been to school at Radley, taken an undergraduate degree and then a doctorate at Balliol Oxford, had been an Eldon Scholar and had also gone to Harvard. He also said that he was a member of the New York Bar and the Irish Bar. All jolly impressive but, unfortunately, all lies.
O'Riordan has enjoyed a high-powered career. Until yesterday, when he was shown the door, he was a special consultant at Paul Hastings' London office and from 2009 until last year he was a partner at the firm. Before that he was a partner at Cadwalader, Group Counsel for Nomura, General Counsel for Sumitomo Finance and Head of Legal and Tax at the London branch of the Republic National Bank of New York. Almost unbelievably, not one of them smelt a rat. It seems he was only rumbled when he applied for a new job with an unidentified chambers.
Paul Hastings had no idea O'Riordan (known as D. Thomas O'Riordan at the firm) was a brass-balled fantasist until it was contacted by RollOnFriday this week. Overnight his profile was removed from its website and within 24 hours he was out of the firm. Which is not entirely surprising: the revelation that O'Riordan lied about his NY and Irish Bar admissions will have Paul Hastings and previous employers scrambling to work out how much of his advice was given in his fictional capacities and whether they have any liability.
A spokesman for Paul Hastings told RollOnFriday, "We learned yesterday that a consultant to the London office, Tom O’Riordan, has, in the past, exaggerated his academic qualifications. Mr O' Riordan left the firm yesterday with immediate effect."
Tip Off ROF
On Monday Dennis O'Riordan was suspended for three years by the Bar Tribunals and Disciplinary Service for lying on his CV and on his former chambers' websites and professional profiles. He had claimed that he had been to school at Radley, taken an undergraduate degree and then a doctorate at Balliol Oxford, had been an Eldon Scholar and had also gone to Harvard. He also said that he was a member of the New York Bar and the Irish Bar. All jolly impressive but, unfortunately, all lies.
O'Riordan has enjoyed a high-powered career. Until yesterday, when he was shown the door, he was a special consultant at Paul Hastings' London office and from 2009 until last year he was a partner at the firm. Before that he was a partner at Cadwalader, Group Counsel for Nomura, General Counsel for Sumitomo Finance and Head of Legal and Tax at the London branch of the Republic National Bank of New York. Almost unbelievably, not one of them smelt a rat. It seems he was only rumbled when he applied for a new job with an unidentified chambers.
A photo from O'Riordan's desk yesterday |
Paul Hastings had no idea O'Riordan (known as D. Thomas O'Riordan at the firm) was a brass-balled fantasist until it was contacted by RollOnFriday this week. Overnight his profile was removed from its website and within 24 hours he was out of the firm. Which is not entirely surprising: the revelation that O'Riordan lied about his NY and Irish Bar admissions will have Paul Hastings and previous employers scrambling to work out how much of his advice was given in his fictional capacities and whether they have any liability.
A spokesman for Paul Hastings told RollOnFriday, "We learned yesterday that a consultant to the London office, Tom O’Riordan, has, in the past, exaggerated his academic qualifications. Mr O' Riordan left the firm yesterday with immediate effect."
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04/10/2013 11:21
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Does ROF have his real C.V. ?
He did his LLB at the UEA. Pretty sure he did, anyway.
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Should have set alarm bells ringing..
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