Rich man, poor man on lawyer costs

At the prices mentioned below, a rich man will become a poor man very quickly and not knowing the distinction between the word 'or' and the word 'and' can be just one of the reasons why. A lawyer 'middle of the lower road' firm in Ireland today will cost, very conservatively speaking, the following charges for every hour that they are contracted:

The principal owner: €350 per hour

One journeyman lawyer: €250 per hour

Legal secretary: €120 per hour

All these costs can be lumped together as firm or company costs that works out at a grand total of €720 for each hour worked. And that is before they even get to court!

The above rates are exclusive of VAT at 13.5% and any other outlays outside of those charges, such as a barrister or junior counsel while and senior counsel will be more. To put that in perspective: a medical doctor working in an Irish hospital currently receives €35 per hour he works before tax and without contract, pension or other benefits. A lone barrister can cost anywhere from €400 per day to over €7000 and more and junior barrister is €4,752. Subsequent days thereafter can cost €1,562 for each day. Lawyers can cost the same brief fee as the barrister and each day thereafter can be another €750 in addition. 

In the circuit court they are cheaper, if you could really call it that: Senior counsel is €1,716 a day, a refresher fee is €858 with junior counsel and lawyers getting €1,144 per day and €572 and €418 per day respectively. The refresher fee sounds like they are going out for a soda, a massage and a sauna. Maybe they were as long as doleful and unsuspecting clients keep on paying for it. 

Ciara Murphy of the Barristers Law Society thinks those fees are actually quite moderate and only level now with 2002 fees. To soften the blow of that minority opinion in case it might not be compatible with a majority one, she added that 'the work' is now much more complex and demanding. Wait till she decides to go working for a living, though these fees and her comments helps illustrate what planet she and other likewise alien forces think they are on. One lone barrister, Emily Egan SC, earned over €1 million for herself working for state bodies last year (2017) with four more costume figures just like her earning over €500,000 each. These fees, comparatively speaking, are more often than not twice what they are in England. 

Then, to keep all of these fees under wraps the taxing master, that quasi-judicial body, rarely publishes their findings against overcharging by lawyers or barristers and anything in between. Neither does it provide a public register of findings or determinations, and, as always, only questions remain in its wake and never full answers. 

What is a lay litigants time worth in big or small matters? Are these prices not motivation enough to know that what a person can be saving is €750 an hour minimum, which is the same as earning it just by their own research! Belief in oneself is the starting point here and only gets better from there before or after anyone starts researching in earnest. Another way of getting there is engaging a law student who would be happy with just €10 an hour to put a person in the right direction and can be found at any university. Plus, this real time experience can help any student on their academic journey. 

Barry Clifford from my forthcoming book called: Law, Lawyers And Liars