Adjudicators cut almost €15m in legal costs from €35m claimed in 179 cases
The cases included 24 medical negligence cases, in which costs claims amounted to a total €17.2 million and total deductions of €7.36 million were made.
The figures were set out in the annual report for 2024, published on Monday, of the Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators.
In three planning matters, total costs of €2.58 million were claimed and almost €1.3 million was deducted. In a single professional negligence case, a claim for €387,792 costs was cut to €241,714, a reduction of €146,078.
READ MORE
More than €518,000 was cut from a total €1.82 million claimed for costs related to 27 road traffic incident cases. In 15 employers/occupiers liability cases, a total €1.86 million in costs was claimed but €778,588 was cut from that amount.
About €157,000 was shaved off the €574,087 total costs claimed for seven family law cases, while a claim for €140,368 in a constitutional law case was cut to €90,442.
The adjudicators determine legal costs disputes, mostly between parties to litigation and mostly concerning litigation in the superior courts – the
High Court
,
Court of Appeal
and
Supreme Court
. Costs disputes between a lawyer and their client also fall within the remit of the office but it does not deal with claims of excessive costs or inadequate legal services.
Circuit Court
costs are dealt with by county registrars and
District Court
costs are dealt with by the District Court judge involved.
The report said 912 cases, claiming a total €145.3 million costs, were filed last year for adjudication, a slight reduction on the 1,015 received in 2023.
Of the 912, the highest number, 181, related to road traffic incidents; 152 related to employers and occupiers' liability; 136 to medical negligence and 88 to judicial review.
Part of the office's remit is to facilitate resolution of legal costs disputes and 1,019 cases involving total costs claims of about €176 million were settled, some formally, some informally, before any adjudication.
The settled cases included 92 judicial reviews involving total costs claims of about €27.1 million; 160 employers/occupiers liability cases involving total costs claims of €22.4 million; 164 medical negligence cases involving total costs claims of €57 million; and 195 road traffic cases involving total costs claims of about €15 million.
[
More than 140 complaints against lawyers upheld by regulator
Opens in new window
]
Of 179 applications which went to adjudication and were decided in 2024, involving total costs claims of €35.25 million, the adjudicators permitted costs of €20.48 million, meaning a deduction of about €14.7 million. One conveyancing case involved a claim for costs of almost €44,000 and a case involving a pension claim sought costs of €182,103.
By the end of last year, the office had 394 cases at hand involving claims amounting to a total €75.8 million. Those include a claim for just over €1 million total costs related to two defamation cases.
Cases at hand are those which were previously lodged with the office but remain uncompleted for reasons including the parties having sought an adjournment, the matter awaiting a hearing, decision or a reconsideration of a decision.
The report said the average time from an adjudication application being lodged to the first hearing date was seven weeks in 2024, similar to the three previous years.
Chief legal costs adjudicator Barry Magee, who was appointed to the position last October, said that effectively means no delays between lodging an application and a case coming up for hearing.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
an hour ago
- The Journal
Court orders extradition of child abuser Oliver O'Grady to serve prison sentence in Portugal
THE HIGH COURT has ordered the extradition of former priest and prolific child abuser Oliver O'Grady – who was featured in an Oscar-nominated documentary – to serve a one-year prison sentence in Portugal for having more than 9,000 images and 29 videos of child sexual abuse. O'Grady (80) of Rostrevor Court, Mackin Street, Dublin 2 was arrested on 21 January 2025 on foot of a European Arrest Warrant issued by a court in Faro in Portugal. The warrant states that O'Grady was tried on a charge of possession of 'pornography of minors', convicted and sentenced to one year in prison in his absence by a Portuguese court after he failed to attend his trial on 7 May 2024. In opposing his surrender to Portugal, O'Grady complained that his fair trial rights were not adequately protected in the process that led to his conviction. He said that he had been unable to contact a lawyer appointed to defend him in Portugal. He further complained that his surrender would be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms because of a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the Portuguese prison system. To bolster his claim, he said he spent time in the Prisional de Setubal in Portugal in October 2019 after he was arrested on foot of a European Arrest Warrant from Ireland. He maintained that while incarcerated there he was not provided with medication, the facilities were unhygienic and, as a segregated prisoner on remand in respect of sexual offences, he was abused and had apples thrown at him. However, Justice Patrick McGrath at the High Court in Dublin found O'Grady's evidence relating to the trial process to be 'disingenuous and self-serving'. The judge found that O'Grady had tried to control the proceedings. Portuguese authorities, through An Garda Siochána, notified O'Grady of his obligation to attend his trial and the consequences of failure to attend, the judge said. There was no impediment to him travelling for his trial and, being a man familiar with the court system, he knew his inability to contact a lawyer did not excuse him from attendance, Justice McGrath said. O'Grady revealed his true mindset in an email he sent to the Portuguese prosecutor on 11 April 2024, the judge said. In the email, O'Grady showed that he knew of the impending hearing date but suggested he might not attend unless he could be assured of being admitted to bail. Advertisement Justice McGrath said: 'This is not the mindset of a person who is unaware of a duty to attend at court and of the possible consequences of non-attendance, but rather shows a person who is trying to control the outcome of proceedings.' Justice McGrath added that O'Grady was 'clearly trying to manipulate the system to try to secure a certain outcome'. Had he attended his trial, as he was required to do, he would have been given proper legal assistance before entering a plea, the judge said. His failure to obtain effective legal assistance flows from his failure to attend, Justice McGrath added. In relation to the risk of inhuman or degrading treatment, Justice McGrath said the conditions at the Carreguiera prison in which O'Grady will be housed in Portugal have not been criticised. He said he is satisfied from assurances given by the Portuguese authorities that no such risk exists. O'Grady has a long history of sexual offences against children. Originally from Limerick, O'Grady emigrated to America after joining the priesthood. In 1993 he was convicted in California of lewd acts against children for repeatedly molesting two brothers. He was released after serving seven years in prison before being deported to Ireland in 2001. His crimes in California were the subject of a 2006 documentary titled 'Deliver us From Evil', in which O'Grady gave an account of his offending. In January 2012, he was jailed in Ireland for three years for possessing hundreds of thousands of images of child pornography. The images were discovered after he left his computer on an Aer Lingus flight in February 2010 and a staff member who discovered the files on the device alerted gardaí. 280,000 images showing children in sexual poses and 1,000 video files of child abuse material, known in law as 'child pornography', were discovered on the device. He moved to Amsterdam where he lived for several years before returning to Ireland. It was on this flight back to his home country that he left his laptop behind. In 2020, he was sentenced to 22 months in prison at Waterford Circuit Court for possessing child pornography. He had pleaded not guilty to one charge of possessing a video of an underage girl engaging in a sexual act on a date between December 2015 and March 2016 at St Otteran's Place, South Parade, Waterford city but was convicted by a jury. A former housemate reported O'Grady to gardaí after discovering a sexually explicit video on the computer.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Legal proceedings initiated against Department of Housing after pulling out of PPP deal in ‘11th hour'
Legal proceedings have been initiated against the Department of Housing after it pulled out of a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement at the 'eleventh hour' over value for money concerns, an Oireachtas committee has heard. Last month, the department pulled out of the PPP projects in which a private investment consortium was to deliver almost 500 social homes in Dublin, Kildare, Sligo and Wicklow. The decision was made on a 'value for money basis,' according to the department. Minister for Housing James Browne initially told committee members on Tuesday he was not aware of any legal proceedings. However, he was later informed by department officials that a judicial review had been lodged. Social Democrats housing spokesman Rory Hearne, who initially asked the Minister whether the preferred bidder for the PPP projects had initiated legal proceedings, said it was 'jaw-dropping' that Mr Browne was unaware. READ MORE While believing PPP 'has a role to play', Mr Browne, who would not speak further on the legal proceedings, said it must be 'completely overhauled and re-examined'. 'It is an important route to be able to get homes that we need in the country but it has to be done in a manner that is fair to the taxpayer as well as giving value for money for the taxpayer,' he said. Labour TD Conor Sheehan said the cancellation of the PPP projects at the 'eleventh hour' has made the delivery route 'essentially unviable.' Separately, Mr Browne told committee members that it will be 'exceptionally difficult' to meet housing targets in 2025. Mr Browne said that while there was a significant increase in commencement notices last year, there was a sense that developers 'turned their attention to further commencements as opposed to finalising the projects they were working on at that time.' Some 60,000 commencement notices were lodged last year, an increase of 84 per cent from the year prior. This was driven largely by temporary development levies introduced to stimulate housing construction. Mr Browne said there has been a consistent level of housing delivery predictions this year from different bodies 'in and around the low 30,000s mark'. 'When you see that level of consistency, it's difficult to disagree with. Certainly, it will be exceptionally difficult to meet our own target that was set out for this year coming from such a low base,' he said. Several committee members also raised concerns over new design standards for apartments , with Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin saying they will allow for 'smaller, darker apartments with less amenities in sub-optimally planned residential developments'. Several questioned how the changes would result in cost reductions of between €50,000 and €100,000 per unit, a claim made by Mr Browne earlier on Tuesday, with Mr Ó'Broin saying he did not believe such a reduction was possible. Mr Browne said the cost reductions will be made possible by the 'significant increase' in the number of units that can be 'put on to the one box unit.' The Minister said he would publish data concerning the projected cost reductions 'in the near future.'
Sunday World
an hour ago
- Sunday World
Former priest and serial child abuser Oliver O'Grady to serve prison sentence in Portugal
EXTRADITION | O'Grady (80) was arrested on January 21, 2025 on foot of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by a court in Faro in Portugal Ex-priest Oliver O'Grady O'Grady (80) of Rostrevor Court, Mackin Street, Dublin 2 was arrested on January 21, 2025 on foot of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by a court in Faro in Portugal. The EAW states that O'Grady was tried on a charge of possession of "pornography of minors", convicted and sentenced to one year in prison in his absence by a Portuguese court after he failed to attend his trial on May 7, 2024. In opposing his surrender to Portugal, O'Grady complained that his fair trial rights were not adequately protected in the process that led to his conviction. He said that he had been unable to contact a lawyer appointed to defend him in Portugal. He further complained that his surrender would be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms because of a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the Portuguese prison system. To bolster his claim, he said he spent time in the Prisional de Setubal in Portugal in October, 2019 after he was arrested on foot of an EAW from Ireland. He maintained that while incarcerated there he was not provided with medication, the facilities were unhygienic and, as a segregated prisoner on remand in respect of sexual offences, he was abused and had apples thrown at him. However, Mr Justice Patrick McGrath at the High Court in Dublin found O'Grady's evidence relating to the trial process to be "disingenuous and self-serving". The judge found that O'Grady had tried to control the proceedings. Portuguese authorities, through An Garda Siochána, notified O'Grady of his obligation to attend his trial and the consequences of failure to attend, the judge said. There was no impediment to him travelling for his trial and, being a man familiar with the court system, he knew his inability to contact a lawyer did not excuse him from attendance, Mr Justice McGrath said. O'Grady revealed his true mindset in an email he sent to the Portuguese prosecutor on April 11, 2024, the judge said. In the email, O'Grady showed that he knew of the impending hearing date but suggested he might not attend unless he could be assured of being admitted to bail. Mr Justice McGrath said: "This is not the mindset of a person who is unaware of a duty to attend at court and of the possible consequences of non-attendance, but rather shows a person who is trying to control the outcome of proceedings." Mr Justice McGrath added that O'Grady was "clearly trying to manipulate the system to try to secure a certain outcome". Had he attended his trial, as he was required to do, he would have been given proper legal assistance before entering a plea, the judge said. His failure to obtain effective legal assistance flows from his failure to attend, Mr Justice McGrath added. Ex-priest Oliver O'Grady Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 8th In relation to the risk of inhuman or degrading treatment, Mr Justice McGrath said the conditions at the Carreguiera prison in which O'Grady will be housed in Portugal have not been criticised. He said he is satisfied from assurances given by the Portuguese authorities that no such risk exists. O'Grady has a long history of sexual offences against children. Originally from Limerick, O'Grady emigrated to America after joining the priesthood. In 1993 he was convicted in California of lewd acts against children for repeatedly molesting two brothers. He was released after serving seven years in prison before being deported to Ireland in 2001. His crimes in California were the subject of a 2006 documentary titled 'Deliver us From Evil', in which O'Grady gave an account of his offending. In January 2012, he was jailed in Ireland for three years for possessing hundreds of thousands of images of child pornography. The images were discovered after he left his computer on an Aer Lingus flight in February 2010 and a staff member who discovered the files on the device alerted gardaí. 280,000 images showing children in sexual poses and 1,000 video files of child abuse material, known in law as "child pornography", were discovered on the device. He moved to Amsterdam where he lived for several years before returning to Ireland. It was on this flight back to his home country that he left his laptop behind. In 2020, he was sentenced to 22 months in prison at Waterford Circuit Court for possessing child pornography. He had pleaded not guilty to one charge of possessing a video of an underage girl engaging in a sexual act on a date between December 2015 and March 2016 at St Otteran's Place, South Parade, Waterford city but was convicted by a jury. A former housemate reported O'Grady to gardaí after discovering a sexually explicit video on the computer.
