Under Section 2 of the Attorneys and Solicitors (Ireland) Act 1849, a Solicitor may lawfully issue proceedings against his or her former client for recovery of costs on the expiration of one calendar month. However, the client has a twelve month period in which he or she can seek and obtain Taxation of these costs.
In the case of Doyle –v- Buckley, Mr Justice Charleton on 25th March 2013 held that “in order for a Bill to be valid, there must be compliance with the structures”. The “structures” is a reference to Order 99, Rule 29, Sub-Rule (5) (and Appendix W if applicable) of the Rules of the Superior Courts, 1986.
However in Spillane –v- Dorgan, before the Court of Appeal on 14th March 2016 it was held that a Bill of Costs drawn in accordance with Section 68(6) of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1994 was valid for the purpose of triggering the time limits referred to in Section 2 of the 1849 Act.