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As you are most likely aware, the Minister for Justice has recently published the Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011. Please click on this link to obtain a full copy of the Bill. http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2011/5811/document2.pdf Parts 9 and 10 of the Bill deal specifically with Legal Costs and makes for some very interesting reading. The Taxing Masters’ Office is not to be abolished but rather it is simply morphing into what will be known as the Legal Costs Adjudicators’ Office. The Legal Costs Adjudicators will have all the powers currently held by the Taxing Masters and whilst they have a number [...]

It has previously been held by the Taxing Master and the Courts, that in the event a lodgement is made in a High Court case with a Circuit Court level of damages and such a lodgement (or tender) is accepted, the Plaintiff is not restricted to costs of the lower jurisdiction (see Cronin Vs Astra Business Systems Limited [2004] 3IR476). However, most interestingly, this issue arose in a Ruling delivered on 2nd June 2011 before Master Flynn. The Defendant in this instance had submitted a tender for an amount within the Circuit court jurisdiction in a High Court case [...]

Time recording is not commonly practiced by Irish Solicitors at present and it is only one of the factors that can assist the Taxing Master on Taxation. Time recording itself for the purpose of Taxation is quite useful. It greatly assists the Taxing Master to gauge how much time was actually spent on each individual matter. However you should note that time recording only provides assistance when assessing fees on Taxation and it is not merely a mathematical method of arriving at a Solicitor’s general instructions fee. It has been accepted by the Courts that the use of an [...]

A Solicitor’s guide to eliminating wasted legal costs in recessionary and better times. In December 2011, the Minister for Justice, Mr Alan Shatter appointed Mr Declan O’Neill as Taxing Master of the High Court. Master O’Neill, formerly a Legal Costs Accountant, has already taken up his new appointment and succeeds Master Charles Moran who retired in December 2010. The Minister also appointed Ms Rowena Mulcahy in February 2012 as the second Taxing Master of the High Court following the retirement of Master Flynn in December 2011. Master Mulcahy was prior to this appointment, a practicing Solicitor and Arbitrator. _________________________________________________________________ [...]