Judge cuts legal and administration fees

A HIGH Court judge has imposed cuts ranging from 16 to 21 per cent on fees sought by an insurance company administrator and his lawyers due to the “radical alteration” in the economic climate and the “substantial reductions” in fees in most professions.

Jim Luby, appointed by the court last December as administrator to ESG Reinsurance Ireland Ltd and its subsidiary Accent Europe Insurance Company Ltd on the application of the financial regulator, had sought fees of some €591,326, plus VAT, over the period December 2009 to July 6th 2010, plus legal fees of some €61,000, plus VAT.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly’s decision yesterday means the administrator will get reduced fees of €496,619 while his lawyers, McCann Fitzgerald, will receive some €48,000. The judge noted that the fees charged by Mr Luby and McCann Fitzgerald had risen from 2006 to 2008 with the top rates in Mr Luby’s firm increasing from €355 per hour in 2006 to €425 per hour in 2008 with corresponding increases for other staff. In this case, Mr Luby was seeking payment at €450 per hour on grounds the work was more complex.

The judge further observed that the fees charged by McCann Fitzgerald had risen from 2006 to 2008 and ranged from €495 per hour for a partner to €380 for a senior solicitor, €320 for an intermediate solicitor and €160 for a trainee. The firm sought fees of €20 per hour less in this administration, he added.

The economic climate had radically altered since 2008, the courts had to be vigilant in setting fees and it was not appropriate to countenance a wide disparity of rates of remuneration, the judge said.