The High Court refused three motions seeking changes to costs allowed by the Taxing Master in litigation involving Lowe Taverns (Tallaght) Limited, South Dublin County Council and The Square Management Limited. It left the allowances for both party and party costs and solicitor and client costs unchanged.
Mr Justice McGovern delivered the judgment on 28 November 2006. The plaintiff had brought two motions: one challenging solicitor and client costs and another challenging party and party costs. The defendants also sought a review of the party and party costs. All three motions concerned the Taxing Master’s ruling of 25 July 2005.
The judge said the High Court’s power to review taxation was limited. Under section 27(3) of the Courts and Court Officers Act 1995, the court could intervene only if the Taxing Master had made an error about the amount allowed or disallowed that made the decision unjust. The judge also noted the Taxing Master’s specialist expertise and the need for judicial restraint.
On party and party costs, the judge concluded that the Taxing Master had considered the relevant factors, including the sums involved, urgency and the work done by the solicitors, counsel and consulting engineer. The judge found no error of principle or law and no allowance so unjust as to permit intervention. He refused both the plaintiff’s and defendants’ motions concerning those costs.
The plaintiff’s challenge to solicitor and client costs covered counsel’s fees, the solicitor’s instruction fee and the consulting engineer’s fees. The judge noted that the plaintiff had opposed those costs principally to limit any widening of the difference between the two bills if its party and party costs were reduced.
The Taxing Master had allowed €75,000 for each of two senior counsel. The judge accepted that the evidence supported briefing two senior counsel and said the fees appeared to have been paid voluntarily. He concluded that the rules required them to be presumed reasonable in the circumstances. He also left unchanged the €54,692 allowed for Tony O’Keeffe & Company Limited, noting the engineer’s extensive work on safety, structural, traffic and planning issues within a short timeframe.
The solicitor’s instruction fee had been claimed at €394,273.35, with €320,000 allowed. The judge said he might have selected a somewhat lower figure, but found no error of principle and was not satisfied the allowance was unjust. He therefore declined to vary it. The judgment left all challenged allowances in place; it did not make new costs assessments.