Judge critical of solicitor’s ‘suicide abatement’ bill

A law firm that charged a client €200 an hour for “suicide abatement” by a solicitor came under fire from the president of the High Court yesterday.

Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns was also highly critical of taxing master James Flynn for approving a €212,000 bill from the Galway firm of solicitors, which included €14,000 for “suicide abatement” phone calls and emails with a client who had been awarded €800,000 following a serious traffic accident in 1993.

Included in the bill presented by Keane Solicitors of Eyre Square was €18,800 for reading school reports for the case, €70,000 to deal with over 1,000 letters, and €22,000 for 111 hours spent arranging appointments. These were part of an overall bill for more than €300,000 relating to a road accident case.

There “appeared to be a strong case” for arguing the financial crisis should be taken into account, Mr Justice Kearns said when overturning a taxing master’s decision allowing a general instruction fee of €212,000 to Keane Solicitors, which included a €14,000 bill for “suicide abatement” emails and phone calls with their client, Scott Bourbon.

“Levels of costs allowed during years of prosperity may no longer be appropriate in times of grave hardship,” the judge said.

While the Constitution guaranteed the right of access for all citizens to the courts, that right was threatened when the cost of going to court, whether for plaintiffs or defendants, becomes or remains “prohibitive”.

The judge quashed the taxing master’s decision approving the €212,000 fee related to the case of Mr Bourbon, 25, who secured a €800,000 settlement in 2009 as a result of serious injuries he suffered as a child in a 1993 road crash. The appropriate costs will later either be determined by the judge or returned to a taxing master.

The defendants in the Bourbon case had appealed against the fees allowed to Keane’s, which originally claimed total costs of €406,069, including a €240,000 instruction fee. Mr Flynn allowed a total of €324,000, including the €212,000 instruction fee.

The decision to award €212,000 based on an estimate that the solicitors worked 1.77 hours on the case per week over 15 years was “artificial and irrational” and, if upheld, would provide incentives to solicitors “to drag out litigation for as long as possible”.

Mr Flynn’s ruling was also notable for its “highly critical” approach to various High Court decisions on the duties of taxing masters, the judge said.