McDowell publishes report on system of legal costs
It is also expected to propose the setting up of a legal costs regulatory group to oversee the entire system of costs.
Tánaiste Michael McDowell will today publish the report of the Legal Costs Implementation Advisory Group (IAG). Chaired by Desmond Miller, the IAG was asked to modernise the system — some of which dates back to the era of Henry VII — and make it more accessible and understandable for clients.
Mr McDowell hopes that these recommendations — along with the setting up of a legal ombudsman’s office — will bring more consumer-focus and transparency to the legal profession.
Detailed legislation will be required to revise the existing system. The Tánaiste believes some of the recommendations can be implemented by regulation. These include the preparation of guidelines for fees and the clear itemisation of bills.
Separately, the minister is also progressing plans for a Legal Services Commission, an initiative that was partly motivated by the recent Competition Authority report into the profession.
In a response to a parliamentary question yesterday, the justice minister said: “I have in the past acknowledged that the legal professions are open to claims that there are restrictive practices within each profession and between them. Indeed such claims are also regularly made against professional services, such as medicine, accountancy and others.”
