Dennis O’Riordan has been suspended from practice by the Bar Association after being exposed as having faked his way to a stellar law career.
O’Riordan’s supposed credentials included attending Radley College, a private boarding school, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he claimed to have received first class BA and BCL degrees as well as a DPhil and an Eldon Scholarship. He also claimed to have got a Masters in Law from Harvard, a degree from the University of East Anglia, and that he was a member of both the New York and Irish Bar Associations. He added that he was currently a visiting lecturer at Oxford University.
On the basis of this he managed to land a pupillage at an unnamed barristers’ chamber, before moving on to become a partner in two top city law firms — Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft and Paul Hastings. The latter he joined in 2009 as a special consultant at its London office.
He was only exposed when he applied to another barristers’ chambers in November. The Bar Standards Board has now suspended him from practice for three years.
In a statement, his current firm, Paul Hastings, said, “Mr O’Riordan left the firm last Wednesday with immediate effect.”
A source from the firm felt that prior to his dismissal O’Riordan was doing “excellent work” and that his clients had been “very pleased”. Another said, “He produced his Bar certificate and a degree from the UEA — he was definitely qualified and had been doing sterling work at Cadwalader and had great client feedback. It’s just that he lied about his academic qualifications, and if you are a barrister, you can’t do that.”
Alex Bartram, Balliol JCR President, commented, “It’s good to see that Balliol appears to be the college of choice for those inventing a brilliant academic career for their CVs. On the one hand, I’m proud that we’ve got an absolutely justified reputation for academic excellence; on the other, I’m slightly concerned that we might be the go-to big-name-College for fraudsters and liars.
Dennis O’Riordan was unavailable for comment.
