Lawyers condemn double-fee claims
Added on October 14, 2005
Joe Humphreys Mark Brennock
14/10/2005
The Bar Council has joined the Law Society in condemning the alleged practice among some lawyers of double-charging clients in residential institutional abuse cases.
A spokeswoman for the council, which represents barristers, said it had yet to receive a complaint about the reported practice, adding "as far as we are aware, it does not take place among barristers".
It emerged yesterday that the Attorney General wrote last week to both the council and the Law Society complaining about reports of lawyers deducting for costs of Residential Institution Redress Board (RIRB) awards.
Such deductions had allegedly been made despite the fact that the board had either covered, or promised to cover, the relevant legal costs.
In a written reply to Attorney General Rory Brady, the director of the Bar Council, Jerry Carroll, said it was "categorically and completely opposed to percentage deductions from such awards".
The Law Society, meanwhile, has promised to penalise any solicitor engaging in double-charging.
The society's complaints and client relations committee, which held a special meeting on the issue yesterday, said it was "utterly appalled at reports that some solicitors have double-charged for work done for victims of institutional abuse".
"The committee regards these as very serious issues and is absolutely determined that they be dealt with immediately and transparently."
A special helpline (1800 242 631) has been set up by the society to deal with complaints on the matter.
The society said all such complaints would be "fast-tracked" by the committee, whose "top priority" was to ensure that any client who had been double-charged would be refunded without delay.
The society is also writing to all solicitors known to have represented applicants to the RIRB requesting "full information on fees in all such cases".
Ken Murphy, director general of the society, confirmed it had received a letter from the Attorney General last Friday on the matter. Asked why it had not immediately established the helpline, he replied: "We really had no idea and there was nothing in that letter to suggest a problem of the enormous dimensions that have now emerged existed."
A group of solicitors representing some applicants to the redress board issued a statement yesterday saying they had never sought to recover legal fees directly from applicants and "nor will we do so in the future".
The solicitors who signed the statement were MacGuill & Co, Dundalk; Michael E. Hanahoe & Co, Dublin; Murphy English & Co, Cork; Gallagher Shatter, Dublin; Pearse Mehigan & Co, Dublin; Wolfe & Co, Skibbereen, and Michael Lanigan & Co, Kilkenny.
In the statement, the firms said: "We believe that any overcharging of an applicant is reprehensible and we categorically condemn that practice."
The issue has focused attention on regulation of the legal profession, which is the subject of a review by the Competition Authority.
? The Irish Times