LEGAL COSTS at the Residential Institutions Redress Board now amount to between a fifth and a sixth of the average award made to former residents of the institutions.
As of May 20th last, publication date of the Ryan report, the board had paid out legal costs of €138.5 million to 817 firms of solicitors involving 11,134 applications.
Of those legal costs, € 11 million was paid out following associated High Court proceedings.
The average value of board awards to former residents of the institutions, as of May 20th last, was € 63,320. Average legal fees paid per case, as of that date, were €11,451.41 cent, or between a fifth and a sixth of each award.
As of May 20th, the board had completed the awards process in 13,190 cases, costing €787.45 million. It is finalising matters in connection with the outstanding 1,394 applications, a process which it is expected will be completed by the end of the year.
By then the board hopes to have dealt with all 14,584 applications it received.
Average awards are also likely to decrease by then too, as less-severe cases are dealt with.
In November 2004 the average award was €77,500. By December 2007 it was €66,845. In December 2008 it was €64,230. Last month it was €63,320.
As of last month 50 per cent of the awards were in the €50,000 to €100,000 category, with a further 35 per cent of applicants being awarded less than €50,000.
It has been estimated that fees paid to solicitors will be in the region of € 167 million when the board completes its work. The total cost of the board to the exchequer has been projected at €1.16 billion, including legal costs.
There are major differences in fees charged and paid to solicitors dealing with the board.
The latest period for which a breakdown of those figures is available covers the years 2003 to 2007. The average legal fee for that period was put at €12,178.27.
Figures for eight top-earning solicitors’ firms dealing with the board illustrate anomalies.
Over the 2003 to 2007 period the Michael E Hanahoe firm was paid € 12,686,356.56 by the board,involving 754 cases. The firm’s average legal costs were €16,825.41 per case, or €4,647.14 above the general average.
The Lavelle Coleman firm was paid €10,805,131.04, involving 797 cases. Its average legal costs were €13,557.25, or €1,378.99 above the average.
Murphy English Co were paid €5,673,409.57, involving 400 cases. Its average legal costs were €14,183.52, or €2,005.26 above the general average.
Then there were other firms which charged, and were paid, less than the average.
For example Peter McDonnell Associates were paid €6,271,877.66, involving 726 cases over that 2003 to 2007 period.
Its average costs were €8,638.95, or €3,539.31 less than the average.
The Hodge Jones Allen firm was paid €4,503,085.76, involving 434 cases.
Its average costs were €10,375.77 per case or €1,802.49 less than the general average.
Solicitor Margaret Campbell was paid €3,844,980.84, involving 327 cases.
Her average €11,758.35 per case was €419.91 less than the general average. Madden Associates were paid €3,531,004.36, involving 298 cases. That is €11,849.01 per case or €329.25 less than general average.
The Paul W Tracey firm was paid €3,106,815.50 involving 390 cases. That is €7,966.19 per case, or €4,212.07 less than the general average for the 2003 to 2007 period.
All of the above-named firms, except Hodge Jones Allen, also deal with the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, frequently involving the same cases.
