Lawyers with tattoos have ‘zero tolerance’ for libel

Lawyers with tattooed faces are “totally different” from those without tattoos, the lawyer who represents victims of the Enron fraud says.

“It’s not just about tattooed lawyers, but those who have tattoos, those who’ve got tattoos, and those who are not,” lawyer Paul McKechnie told The Irish Sun.

“These are not people who are simply trying to defend themselves, they’re people who have an agenda.”

He said his clients who have had tattoos were generally not “defamatory”.

“They’re defending themselves, defending their own reputations, they have a right to defend their own reputation.”

But if you start saying that these are people who don’t have a good reputation then I think you’ve got a problem.

“Mr McKechenie said he had been “dismissed” from the firm where he works for the last four years.”

I’m not an anti-tattoo lawyer.

I’ve had tattoos for a long time,” he said.”

People come to me with a tattoo and they’ve got it for a reason, they think it’s the best way to be recognised.

“My clients are the same as the people who say they don’t want to have tattoos.

They want to be known for their work and they don’st want to get into the spotlight.”

Mr McKeechnie’s clients include the mother of murdered schoolgirl Marie McKean and her daughter, Mollie McKeanan.

“Their case is not one of me defending myself, it’s about me representing them, about defending their reputation,” he added.

Mr McKeefe said he could not comment on the case of an “innocent person” who had been convicted of murdering a colleague.

“They’ve been prosecuted in the courts, but they’re in jail because of that, they don´t have any rights, they’ve been convicted.”

The whole issue is not the law but the fact that they’ve had that conviction.

“To be held accountable for the conduct of a colleague is very difficult.”

Mr Meechans death, and the recent acquittal of three other people, led to calls for the repeal of the tattoo laws.

Mr MacKechnies family have been told he would be receiving compensation from the State if he was to lose his legal profession.

“No, we’re not going to have that.

We’re not, we’ve had our legal profession since the 1920s,” Mr McKehenie said.