A LAWYER who said his fee for taking a case would be a minimum of 30,000 guineas (£31,500) has had his brief fee reduced to £15,000 by the Supreme Court. The senior counsel was nominated by the Commissioners of Public Lights to appear on its behalf at an oral hearing of Bord Pleanala. The barrister indicated the brief fee would be a minimum of 30,000 guineas and "refresher fees" (daily fees) would be 3,000 guineas per day.
The Commissioners, under the aegis of the Department of the Marine, maintain lighthouses around Ireland's coastline.
The Department consulted the Attorney General's office on the fees matter. It advised that senior counsel's brief fee should be 7,500 guineas and the refresher fee 1,500 guineas.
The barrister had said that if the Department considered the fees marked to be excessive, he would consider what it had to say and, if necessary, have the fees taxed.
The fees were allowed in full by the Taxing Master and his decision was upheld by the High Court. The Commissioners appealed to the Supreme Court.
Delivering judgment, Mr Justice Keane said it was open to senior counsel, when the clients considered the fees proposed to be too high, to decline to accept the brief unless the fees were accepted. It was equally open to a client to seek the services of another counsel on a more economical basis. In the present case, senior counsel agreed to accept whatever fees were allowed on taxation.
The objective test was if it would have been reasonable for a reasonably careful and reasonably prudent solicitor to have agreed this fee. Having regard to the evidence of other brief fees in cases of, at the very least, comparable magnitude, Mr Justice Keane said he was satisfied the Commissioners had discharged the onus of establishing that it would not.