The Master of the High Court has warned solicitors they will be personally liable if they bring "pointless" and "misconceived" pre-trial applications to his court.
Mr Edmund Honohan made his remarks when he ruled a solicitor had brought a pointless motion to his court.
He directed the solicitor to repay to their client the costs of bringing the unsuccessful motion, saying access to the courts featured in the European Convention on Human Rights and the courts had to monitor the costs of litigation.
He warned that if the costs of civil litigation were not kept "within reasonable limits", litigants would be effectively denied access to the courts.
He said items set out in bills received from their solicitors often left litigants "completely at sea" and unable to query them effectively.
Mr Honohan ruled that the court could make costs orders at each step of legal proceedings, particularly if the costs arose through a solicitor missing deadlines, not complying with court orders, making unecessary court applications, having to amend their own court documents and in any situation where the solicitor's mistake was "glaringly obvious".
The Master of the High Court is the most senior official in the courts system involved in the preparation of major trials and High Court hearings.