Solicitor claimed €36k cost for €12k settlement case

A solicitor who negotiated a €12,000 settlement for a client who was defamed by Irish Rail later asked the company for legal costs amounting to more than three times the settlement.

Judge Jacqueline Linnane heard in the Circuit Civil Court that solicitor Fergus Dunleavy had billed Irish Rail for legal costs of just over €36,000, including a professional fee of €25,000.

Sean Coleman of M Roche and Co Solicitors, for Irish Rail, said a claim for defamation of a passenger by one of its ticket collectors had been settled for €12,000 with an agreement that costs would be taxed in default of agreement.