A streamlining of legal costs was proposed in a judgment delivered by the Master of the High Court yesterday. He said a basic hourly rate of €100 should be paid to barristers.
In a proposal for new guiding principles for assessing the costs of work carried out by lawyers, Master Edmund Honohan has suggested a streamlining of the costs-assessment system.
It would be similar to that which has taken place in the UK where fast-track procedures exist for smaller claims.
His guidelines follow recent complaints by him that some of the largest law firms in the country - described by him as the sort "whose clients give blank cheques" - are unwilling to disclose the fees they charge.
The master's guidelines come as Minister for Justice Michael McDowell plans to reform the way legal costs are assessed, with solicitors and counsel costs itemised on a "work-done basis".
According to the master, a number of practitioners involved in cases before him were invited some months earlier to offer suggestions on appropriate levels of fees and costs.
He said many practitioners of the legal profession responded, but three of the larger firms in Dublin had requested him not to measure costs in their particular cases and had opted, presumably on their clients' instructions, to have their costs taxed.
The master said the Competition Authority had referred to very high earnings, restrictive practices and cost measurement without reference to work actually done. It had concluded the legal system was an over-expensive overhead for the economy.
He said there must be provision for "interminable" delays in lawyers getting paid, bad-debt provisions, insurance cover and pension funding. To take account of pension funding and other requirements, a barrister's hourly rate should be €100.
He said barristers do not usually receive fees of €100,000 in their first year. They cut corners and postponed a decision on career viability for as long as possible in the hope that their professional qualities would be revealed to all or that lady luck would adopt them.
Among the principles for assessing costs of work done include proposals that the recoverable costs of each chargeable item or task would be measured objectively and not subjectively. Costs would be determined by reference to the hourly rate of the lawyer of appropriate grade for the task and not by reference to the lawyer who actually performed it.
The master proposes that the hourly rate for each grade of lawyer remain the same no matter what item or task is being costed or in what court. The rate of the lawyer who is the lead or responsible lawyer for the task would be subject to an automatic uplift. His proposed uplift includes District Court 20 per cent; Circuit Court 30 per cent; High Court 50 per cent; Supreme Court 100 per cent.