Taking A Court Case: You should read these notes very carefully. They contain essential information which will help you to help your Solicitor.

What Is The Risk Going To Court?

Please remember that every Court Case involves some element of risk. Even when you think you have an “open and shut” case, things can happen that threaten your strong position. The best example of this is when the person you are suing tells lies. It is important that you tell your Solicitor the truth at all times.

Exaggerating your case, even a little, can have devastating consequences and if you lose, the chances are that the Court will order you to pay the other side their legal costs.

What Is The Personal Injuries Board?

If you have been injured and want to take a Court Case in Ireland, you must first take your case to the Injuries Board. The Injuries Board says that 50% of cases settle within their system. That is, of course, good news but you have to pay all your legal costs within this system even if you win your case.

This means that you have to pay not only your Solicitor but also any outlays. You also have to pay tax in the form of VAT to the Government. We operate a set fee system for Injuries Board work. The fee is €1,000 for processing the application together with outlays and VAT.

If additional work is required after the application has been processed then a flat rate of €200 per hour will be applied. If your case does not settle within the Injuries Board system and later goes to Court we would be happy to wait for this fee until the end of the case. If you want to know more please look at the web site www.injuriesboard.ie

The Courts

If your case does not involve injury, or if the Injuries Board cannot deal with it, then you can go to Court straight away. To commence your case, we would normally send a warning letter to the Defendant. Often this encourages attempts at settlement.

However, if your case cannot be settled, then you may have to go to Court. In addition the other side may make a Tender or Lodgement. This is where a formal settlement offer is made in writing. The trouble is that if you ignore it, or do not get awarded more than the Tender or Lodgement you can be penalised in relation to costs.

We can talk more about this later but, for the moment, you should be aware that if such an offer is made you only have a short time to respond. Do not ignore it.

What Are The Costs?

The rule is that you, the Client, are primarily responsible for all of the legal costs. At the end of the case, you will be given a Bill of Costs which is made up of your Solicitors Professional Fees, Outlays and VAT. We are entitled to charge for the work done on your behalf but the rule is that the costs must be fair and in proportion to the work done.

Our fees are based on a number of considerations including the amount of work actually done, its complexity, urgency and the importance of that work to you together with the number and complexity of the documents considered and prepared as well as the results achieved and our skill and specialised knowledge.

Outlays usually include Court Charges and Barristers fees as well as medical and other expert witnesses, if appropriate to your type of case. VAT is charged by the Government at the current rate. At the end of your case we will give you a Bill of Costs which will show our fees, outlays and VAT.

You will also get a Statement of Account showing deductions made with your permission together with credits for any payments that you have made on account and any costs which may have been received from the other side. Costs received from the other side are generally known as Party and Party Costs.

What Are The Party And Party Costs?

When you win your case you will normally also get an Order for Costs. This is a contribution towards the costs of bringing the case to Court and is called the “Party and Party Costs” element. We normally try to negotiate this element for our clients but we are not always successful.

When we are successful we don’t charge anything extra for negotiating the costs. However, if we are not successful you may have to hire a Legal Costs Accountant who will present your case for costs to a Court Official called the Taxing Master. It is the job of the Taxing Master to decide what is fair and reasonable in respect of the costs.

Remember that in the unlikely event that you have to hire a Costs Accountant, you are responsible for their fee over and above your legal fees. Remember also that Party and Party Costs only cover the bare essentials of your legal costs and they are not entitled to cover all of the costs, outlay and VAT.

You will need to make up the difference or shortfall. If a dispute arises, you can always refer the matter to the Law Society and you are entitled to a fully itemised Bill of Costs which can be arbitrated by the Taxing Master in a process called Taxation of Legal Costs.

If you decide to tax your costs then it is specifically agreed between us that we may deduct the full amount of the Bill of Costs from your damages cheque and if the Bill of Costs is reduced on taxation we will be happy to make an appropriate refund.

No Win No Fee

Your case may be one where we have agreed to act on a “No Win No Fee” basis. This means that if you lose we don’t get paid. It also means in general that we will wait until your case is over for payment of the fees.

If you discontinue your case for any reason or change Solicitors for whatever reason during the case you will become immediately liable for all legal costs for work done, outlays and VAT incurred, up to that point. Payment will no longer be conditional upon the successful conclusion of your case and will become due immediately.

In those circumstances we would reserve the right to hold onto our file until payment is received. Remember always that if you lose, you won’t have to pay our fees but you may still have to pay your opponents legal costs. Outlays are different from fees and they are generally payable whether you win or lose.

We will always consult you before committing to payment of outlays. We give you our guarantee that we will not commit you to outlay unless they are absolutely necessary for the successful and quick conclusion of your case.

What If I Have A Complaint?

We recognise that we are all human and sometimes relationships do become frayed. Be aware at all times that, as Solicitors, we are regulated by the Law Society. They have a specialised unit dedicated to solving these difficulties.

However, because most of our business comes from word of mouth recommendations, it is really important that we have happy clients. We simply cannot afford unhappy clients. Please discuss any concerns you may have with us first and we will do our very best to resolve any reasonable complaints.

If we can’t agree a solution it is part of our agreement that any unresolved matters be referred to Arbitration in the first instance. Arbitration is a means of resolving difficulties between parties refereed by an independent third party in private.

For general information on arbitration you should refer to the Institute of Arbitrations web site at www.arbitration.ie If matters remain unsolved having been through the Arbitration process you can then ask the Law Society to administer your grievance.