Kellys law
The legal profession in Cavan Town has seen many fine practitioners over the years but when it comes to the Generation Game, then the Kelly clan are out in front as SEAN MCMAHON found out...
The firm of John V. Kelly & Co Solicitors was founded by John V. Kelly (or Sean as he is known to his friends) in 1958 and has long since become synonymous with a broadly based and thriving practice. The second generation, Paul V. Kelly joined the firm in 1979 and now, in turn, his son Shane has joined the firm to make a third generation of Kellys in the practice.
The seeds were sown in the Spring of 1952 when Sean Kelly from Redhills become the second member of his family to qualify as a solicitor.
“I was apprenticed to my brother Pat who had a practice in Manorhamilton and he then moved to Sligo at a later stage,” recalled Sean.
He worked with his brother for about five months and then got a job in Dublin at a wage of £6 per week, which was later increased to £7.
Sean, who played football with Redhills and Manorhamilton, then went off to New York with a friend before moving to Toronto in February, 1956.
After a duration there, he moved back to New York in September 1956, having accumulated the $500 dollars required to ensure that he would not be a liability on the American State.
He only intended staying a year or two and, having married Patricia Smith in 1956, Paul was then born the following year.
Sean worked in the Legal Department of an insurance company in New York and handled claims from all over the United States.
After returning from America in September 1958, Sean hoped to obtain a job as an assistant solicitor in Dublin, but he soon realised that the economic situation was little changed since he left Ireland in February, 1954.
Taking the plunge
He was offered a job in a well established firm but was informed that the salary was £8 per week.
“I said to the son of the boss, whom I knew, 'I have a wife and child and I can’t work for £8 a week.’ I went back downstairs and I said to my wife who was waiting 'that’s it, I am not going to apply for any other job and I am going to commence practising in Cavan’. I went down to Capel Street where I knew a stationer who supplied stationery to my brother and I ordered note paper headed John V. Kelly, Solicitor, Cavan,” said Sean.
“I came in the next morning to Cavan and went to see the late Owen Cusack Auctioneer out at Drumalee and he brought me to the late Austin McDonald who owned the General Accident Insurance office on the corner of Church Street and Cock Hill where he had two rooms available at the back and I took them at a rent of £1.50 per week,” he added.
Sean decorated the offices and had a timber sign made with his name on it. He also recalls in detail purchasing a second hand desk in Dublin and bringing it home on the roof of his car with a second hand typewriter that he had also purchased. And that was that.
“For two years I did my own typing and, when I was in court, my wife Patricia would come in and look after the office,” said Sean.
Expansion
Some 14 or 15 months later, the practice of Reid & Faris Solicitors came up for sale. Sean bought the practice and also got an option to purchase the office building within seven years, which he duly exercised.
“Two of Mr Faris’s staff, namely the late Elsie Humphreys and the late Gretta Nesbitt (nee Browne) worked for me for the rest of their working lives. They were both very hard working, loyal and dedicated employees.”
His first big win
The first case Sean did was in Belturbet District Court where he was introduced to the court by the late Joseph P. Black, solicitor of Clones. The case was somewhat unique in that it involved defending his mother Ellen Kelly, who owned the Kelly’s pub in Redhills. The case related to a breach of the Licensing Laws and the Judge was Philip Lavery.
“At that time pubs were closed on Sundays and there was no drink but there was one exception - if you had travelled more than three miles, you were entitled to a drink. There was no such exemption in Northern Ireland on a Sunday, so as a result a lot of people between Leggykelly and Newtownbutler came up to our place on a Sunday and enjoyed themselves for the afternoon,” detailed Sean.
“I brought three of the people found on the premises to the court as witnesses and put them in the box and they all swore that they were more than the three miles away – some four and five miles – in the heel of the hunt, Judge Philip Lavery dismissed the case,” he concluded of the tale and his first win.
The next generation
When his son Paul qualified in 1979, aged 22 years, he took over the District Court work straight away, as his father was pulling away from that end of the business.
“I can still remember being accompanied to the court in Cavan on the first day and being introduced to the court by my father, who then promptly disappeared and left me to get on with it. I was absolutely petrified – you either sank or swam,” said Paul, who clearly opted for the latter.
Paul feels that the biggest change from his father’s time in the legal profession is the area of technology. “It has totally revolutionised the way we do our work. When I started over 35 years ago, there was lot of post to be dealt with – it was the main means of communications and, at that time, there was a morning and afternoon post,” he recalled.
Then came the fax machine, which meant instant delivery of letters etc and finally the computer revolution with email quickly making the fax machine obsolete. Of course, the other major change is the arrival of the mobile phone.
Paul remembers one occasion when his father had just left for Dublin for a High Court Case when a phone call came through with word that it was not going ahead.
“There were no mobile phones then and we wondered how we would get word to him. So we rang the Garda Station in Virginia and told them the story and the make of car he was driving. The sergeant in Virginia agreed to go out and set up a checkpoint and watch out for him and he flagged him down. He told him the case was not proceeding and to go back to his office.”
The human touch
While information technology has revolutionised a lot of the work, two aspects have not changed. “When you stand up in court to defend your client, you are on your own. You have to do your job and think on your feet. The second feature of the work that will never change, in my opinion, is, despite the revolution in technology, people will still need the human touch. They need to talk to another human being and to have a sympathetic ear to listen to them,” said Paul.
Sean Kelly was also County Coroner for 26 years right up until 1998 when he reached the age of 70 and then Paul took on the role. “I retired as Coroner in 2004 because it was impossible to combine the heavy workload of a coroner with that of a busy legal practice,” explained Paul.
The next generation
Now the third generation man is set to make his mark – Paul’s son, Shane Kelly. He commenced his career as a solicitor at the famil firm on June 22 last, having previously trained with Eversheds international commercial law firm in Dublin. Eversheds is a large commercial firm comprising 24 partners, 60 assistant solicitors and six consultants, together with support staff.
Shane qualified with a Bachelor in Civil Law (BCL) Degree from NUIG Galway in 2009 and then completed a Masters in Commercial Law in the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 2010. He qualified as a Solicitor in 2014.
“I commenced my training with Eversheds in 2012 and qualified in December 2014. I practised as a solicitor there until June of this year. Corporate life was good and I enjoyed it but I prefer the variety of a general practice,” said Shane who is so far relishing his work in the vibrant family practice.
“I have two pairs of big boots to fill – but so far, so good,” quipped Shane.
Parting words
As his grandfather, Sean Kelly watches young Shane stride boldly into the breach his parting advice is simple - “be patient at all times”.
And finally, one last court anecdote from Sean. He recalled the time a young barrister, wanting to impress his instructing solicitor and their client, kept flogging away on the same point. Eventually the judge got fed up listening to him (he had already made up his mind). Eventually, he says: 'Young man, everything you are saying to me is going in this ear and is going straight out the other ear.’
Not to be outdone, the Barrister replied: 'I quite understand my Lord – there is nothing in between to stop it.’