solicitor fees

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Dollie

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Hi I have a personal injury claim which was pursued outside of the personal injuries board . My solicitor issued a notice of paticulars and a barrister drafted a circuit court personal injuries summons and a discovery of evidence was also requested . Long and short of it a settlement amount was reached prior to a court date even given . My problem is my solicitor has asked for 8000 euro for fees this includes an engineers report my medical report and the barrister fees for the summons for circuit court all to be paid in cash . It seems like mad money to me it's more than I'm getting from the claim . Anyone have any idea what the normal fees for such a claim
Thanks in advance
 
The old solicitors fees chestnut.

What did the initial quotation of fees outline.

€8,000 including VAT at 23% is €6,500 ex VAT. Barrister is at least €2k to do anything. Medical report and engineer say €500 each which leaves €3.5 for your solicitor. To prepare a file for court.

The solicitor should provide you a breakdown of the €8k.
 
Joe_90 said:
The old solicitors fees chestnut.

What did the initial quotation of fees outline.

€8,000 including VAT at 23% is €6,500 ex VAT. Barrister is at least €2k to do anything. Medical report and engineer say €500 each which leaves €3.5 for your solicitor. To prepare a file for court.

The solicitor should provide you a breakdown of the €8k.
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I was never given an original quote or a court date at first when the offer was lower the fee was 4500 then the settlement went up as did the fee by 3500. And he wants it in cash . He says the engineers fee is 1300 not sure about the barrister but all he did was the summons
 
Who reached the agreement before the hearing of the case, you or the solicitor employed by you. If it the latter, then his fees and other costs associated with the claim should have been included as part of the final overall settlement. If he did not do this or indeed if he did not inform you that all his legal costs and associated costs were not part of the settlement, he is guilty of professional negligence.

The fact that he is asking for 8,000 euro cash raises my suspicions that something fishy is going on. Do not pay over any monies in cash. I have a suspicion he may be trying to double tap, ( get paid by the plaintiff and the defendant. )
 
Did this solicitor ask you for these fees in person, over the phone or by letter or email ?
 
He calles me told me one week offered an all in ammount but he was going to go in again I said fine he said 5k at the time then they increased the settlement and he increased his fees . I gave never seen any correspondence from insurance company and the only thing I ever went to office for to sign the barristers summons for civil court . There us just something fishy about the whole thing last time I was there he told me the fees in person and about cash the time the whole time I was there he just kept asking me to look at the file there was a lot of work to me a file doesn't quantify work load only paper printed
 
Yes, just as I thought. Write to your solicitor ( keep photocopy ) asking them to send you a formal letter regarding the breakdown of the fees alluded to above. When you get this letter then phone the other parties insurance company, ask to speak with the loss adjuster dealing with the case. Then ask this individual whether the settlement fee was the net amount and that did they pay your legal and associated costs incurred in taking the action. This is usually the case and is the industry standard in relatively small personal injury cases. Ask the loss adjuster to send you a letter confirming same. If you get these two letters, your solicitor is in hot water. Please update me. In the meantime do not part with any monies.
 
Thank you I am meeting him next week I know nothing about law or litigation and to be honest I never felt I had to look into it as I presumed you could trust a solicitor . I am going to ask him to see the last letter of correspondence from the defendants insurance company anyway I'll request a letter also . 8000 does seem extreme for something that never went to court but then I don't know anything about costs it was more his behaviour not showing me correspondence asking for cash not issing a section 68 letter raising the fee as the settlement goes up all veery suspicious
 
Engineer for report will be minimum €850 + VAT. Doctor (GP) report will be minimum €250 and some GP's must now charge VAT. If medical report was received from specialist, it will have been minimum of €400 + VAT. If there was more than one medical report, then the fees are per report. Solicitor would have been min of €2000 + VAT, but you say that the claim was pursued OUTSIDE of injuries board. Was this because there was a big liability issue, or because you were not satisfied with the award. If the former, then there is far more work involved and solicitor is entitled to be paid for the work done. Look on the bright side, he got money for you - he got you home.

Now on the other hand, what do you mean by 'its more than you got in the claim'?
 
It's not thrd ammount thar got to Me it was the fact the increase in thousands within a week as soon as the settlement ammount increased . His fee is only slightly higher than my settlement my problem is the request for cash also and nor showing g correspondence from the insurer . I don't dispute the fact a solicitor deserves to be paid for work but with outlays of 245 for medical I think he said 1200 including vat for engineer and the barriayers fee The claim did not go through injuries board as the defendant refused as I was told by solicitor . It's more his behaviour rather than the ammount .he got me money ! Sure thata why I employed him and it should be noted the defendants admitted liability at the start so I was shocked to hear the solicitor say they refused the personal injuries board
 
Dollie said:
Thank you I am meeting him next week I know nothing about law or litigation and to be honest I never felt I had to look into it as I presumed you could trust a solicitor . I am going to ask him to see the last letter of correspondence from the defendants insurance company anyway I'll request a letter also . 8000 does seem extreme for something that never went to court but then I don't know anything about costs it was more his behaviour not showing me correspondence asking for cash not issing a section 68 letter raising the fee as the settlement goes up all veery suspicious
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The clients of Michael Lynn, Thomas Byrne, Heather Perrin and all the other schisters believed they could trust their solicitor, look what happened there.
 
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If insurer settled claim, was it inclusive of all your legal costs or not? If it was, you should have been told this at time of settlement AND given a very accurate estimate of the costs. If it was settle exclusive of costs, then insurer will be paying costs on the agreed local scale. That scale would NOT leave solicitor much short on his fee, engineers fee or doctor's fee. Bear in mind though that some medical specialities charge more than is usually allowed in the scale. these would usually be psychiatric, psychological, vocational rehabilitation and more 'exotic' specialists.
 
Hear hear. I am fully in agreement with ravima last post.
 
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