A former director of the private clients' division of Davy Stockbrokers is suing the firm, claiming breach of contract. Michelle O'Keefe issued legal proceedings against J&E Davy, trading as Davy Stockbrokers, on September 3rd, according to court records.

She left Davy earlier this year and was last month appointed a partner at BDO Simpson Xavier with responsibility for private wealth management.

Ms O'Keefe has worked in the financial services sector for more than 18 years. She was a director of private clients at Davy for seven years.

She has experience in portfolio management and private client management.

While at Davy, Ms O'Keefe was involved in contract negotiation and worked with international institutions, private banks and private equity houses. Her appointment at BDO Simpson Xavier was announced on September 28th.

She is being represented by Dublin solicitor Dominic Dowling, while Davy's solicitors in the case are A&L Goodbody, which lodged a "memo of appearance" in the case on September 19th.

Ms O'Keefe and Mr Dowling declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Davy. The firm is expected to defend the action.

Speaking at the time of Ms O'Keefe's appointment at BDO, the firm's managing partner, Paul Keenan, said: "Ireland's wealth management demand is on the rise and in a highly competitive market we are primed with the key staff and skills needed to offer our private clients the best possible service offering."

The large amount of wealth generated in the Irish market in recent years has made the area of private client and wealth management a boom area for accountancy firms and stockbrokers. Davy chief executive Tony Garry said in an interview published in The Irish Times last January that the stockbroker's private client division was contributing to half the firm's profits.

Ms O'Keefe is not the only departure from Davy over the past year. Former Munster rugby player Killian Keane and Keith Ryan left the broker's private clients' division to join Goldman Sachs, which is in the process of growing its wealth management business.

A number of other London-based banks with private banking operations have targeted prospective wealthy Irish clients in the past year in an effort to tap the country's lucrative private client market.

While at Davy, Ms O'Keefe worked with Stephen McGivern, a partner in BDO Simpson Xavier, on the Davy Business Expansion Scheme (BES) fund, which raised more than €10 million from investors earlier this year. The fund has raised more than €85 million in total over the past 12 years for 130 companies.