Judge cuts fees of examiner by 16%

A HIGH Court judge has imposed a 16 per cent cut on fees for the interim examiner of the insolvent Residence private members club at St Stephen’s Green, Dublin. That reduction “equates much more to the realities of life in 2010”, Mr Justice Peter Kelly said.

The ruling is likely to lead to reduced fees for insolvency professionals involved in examinerships.

Interim examiner Jim Stafford, of Friel Stafford Corporate Recovery, had sought fees based on an hourly charge of €425 for himself, and €210, €185, €150 and €100 per hour for other members of his staff.

He sought approval of total costs of €111,000, made up of €62,000 examinership costs and expenses and €50,000 legal costs.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Kelly ruled the hourly charges were too high in the current economic climate and in circumstances where many professionals had suffered cuts of up to one-third in their income, and he reduced them by 16 per cent. He also ruled Mr Stafford and his team had, “for the best of motives”, including concerns the Residence management did not properly understand or operate their business, carried out work in excess of powers granted by the court.

The judge calculated at least 15 per cent of the time worked was spent on fulfilling a role beyond the terms of the court order and Mr Stafford was therefore only entitled to payment for 51 of the 60 hours he actually worked. Hours worked by his team were also reduced by 15 per cent.

He directed the legal costs should be calculated by the High Court Taxing Master who, he said, should bear in mind the judge’s observations about charge out rates for professional fees.

The Residence club, owned by restaurateur brothers, Simon and Christian Stokes, opened in 2008 and went into receivership after the judge ended court protection for it.