David Annett, 38, of Church Road, Dromara pleaded guilty at Craigavon Crown Court to a total of four charges.
He admitted defrauding the First Trust Bank, two counts of theft and transferring over £110,000 of property out of his employer's business account.
In August 2012, Annett went into Lurgan police station to admit responsibility.
A prosecution lawyer told the court that in 2007, while working for Portadown-based JP Hagan Solicitors he was "approached by a senior partner who asked him if he wanted to become a partner in the firm."
"The offer came at a cost - the cost was £250,000. The defendant remortgaged his home at Church Road with First Trust Bank/Allied Irish Bank."
Personal account
He already had a mortgage with UCB Home Loans, which totalled £220,000.
The lawyer said that the First Trust Bank believed "they would be the first charge on the property".
The money was released to Hagan's Solicitors to settle the UCB mortgage and pay the £250,000 to take up the partnership.
However, the lawyer said, the UCB mortgage "was not discharged" and "the defendant accessed the business account and transferred the entire amount of monies into his personal account".
In another incident, Annett was approached by a County Down family who had been offered £25,000 to buy its land.
Investment property
He said he would have the money checked out under the proceeds of crime legislation.
Whilst having the money in his possession Annett removed £17,380 out of the £25,000.
The court also heard that, in March 2008, Annett moved £112,000 out of the law firm's business account to "buy himself an investment property in Corby, England".
A defence lawyer said that, after going to the police station. Annett went to see his minister and the elders of his church and confessed his crimes.

Slade's side are one point off the top six in seventh with nine games to play.
The 55-year-old has previously taken Grimsby, Yeovil and Leyton Orient to play-off finals in lower divisions, without going on to win promotion.
"Of course it would be bigger than those," he told BBC Wales Sport.
"Because you have the opportunity then of playing for the biggest prize in football, Premier League football.
"I know this, I'd be confident of getting them to the final as I've done that three times.
"Maybe Ken Choo [Cardiff chief executive] will have to manage the final because I have lost all three finals!"
Slade started his managerial career as caretaker boss at Notts County in 1994 and reached the landmark of 750 games with last Saturday's win over Ipswich.
"It has been a long journey and it's never a straight road, there are always bends in the road that you have to navigate and it's been tough.
"The job has become harder. There is more scrutiny, there is less time to turn things around and be successful.
"I've always wanted to get to that 1,000 mark. I think there's about 23 or 24 (managers) in that club, but those next 250 games seem a long time off but we'll take each one as they come and try and embrace them and look forward to them."
While he admits taking Cardiff to a top-six finish this season would top any achievement in his career so far, he still considers his previous play-off campaigns to be the highlights of his career so far.
"Getting to Wembley with a couple of the clubs that haven't had much budget at all really, in Yeovil and Grimsby Town, initially were big achievements just to be in the final really.
"And certainly the semi-final against where I was born Nottingham Forest for Yeovil was a big memory because we were 2-0 down.
"On that day they were selling flags 'Forest at Wembley' and they had all the tickets.
"My Chairman at Yeovil had to take the tickets back in the boot of his car.
"That was a big memory for me. We were 2-0 down and won the game 5-4 after extra time so that was a special game."
On Saturday Cardiff head to Reading looking to maintain their momentum.
Goalkeeper David Marshall is doubtful because of a virus and is not expected to train on Friday, but defender Fabio and midfielder Peter Whittingham have trained after recovering from knocks.
A County Down solicitor defrauded a bank of £400,000 to help buy a partnership in a legal practice and an apartment in England.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Cardiff City manager Russell Slade says qualifying for a Championship play-off spot this season would be "bigger than anything" he has achieved in his career after passing 750 games in management.