AN APPEAL against legal fees taxed against two newspapers following the collapse of a trial at the Circuit Criminal Court was adjourned pending judgment yesterday.
The Irish Times and Irish Examiner had appealed costs taxed against them of more than €480,000 which had been awarded by Patrick Wallace, county registrar for Clare.
The two papers were found liable for the costs of the trial of former Clare GP Paschal Carmody in April 2011 on charges of deception and false pretences.
They had published articles containing matters that were discussed in court in the absence of the jury and were held to be in contempt of court by the judge.
At the proceedings at the Circuit Court in Dublin yesterday Eoin McCullough SC, for both newspapers, told Judge Donagh McDonagh that costs of just over €100,000 had been agreed with the Director of Public Prosecutions and almost €24,000 was agreed with the Courts Service.
However the newspapers disputed a fee of just under €360,000 calculated by Mr Wallace for the costs incurred by Mr Carmody’s defence team. This was made up of €150,000 for solicitor Michael Staines, which included €54,000 for the days he spent in court, €18,000 for a supporting solicitor and more than €70,000 for his pre-trial work.
This amounted to €430 an hour, Mr McCullough said, although it was a €50,000 reduction on the fee actually claimed by Mr Staines. He suggested €200 an hour would be appropriate, with a reduction for some work that “must” have been done by a junior.
Barristers’ fees were also too high, he said. A brief fee of €32,500 for senior counsel and refresher fees of €3,000 a day had been granted, with a reduction by one-third for junior counsel.
However senior counsel for the DPP had agreed a brief fee of just over €5,000 and just under €1,500 a day. Mr McCullough also disputed a fee of almost €3,400 claimed by the Courts Service for the court registrar’s time. He said if that was to be claimed for, the judge’s time should also have been charged. “I see your point,” the judge said.
Solicitor for Mr Carmody’s defence Aoife Corridan said the case had been “complex and difficult”. She disputed that some of the preparatory work was carried out by a junior and said Mr Staines’s fee had already been cut by 30 per cent.
She told the judge only he could assess if Mr Wallace had made an error and, if he believed he had, could interfere only if it caused an injustice. The registrar had not made an error, she said.
Judge McDonagh put the case in for mention next Thursday.
