The High Court has refused an HSE application to overturn major legal-cost allowances arising from a medical negligence case brought on behalf of a child with alleged catastrophic birth injuries.
Mr Justice Conleth Bradley held on May 1 that the Health Service Executive had not shown any error of fact, law or principle in the Chief Legal Costs Adjudicator's treatment of a €520,000 solicitors' instructions fee or brief fees of €95,000 for senior counsel and €65,000 for junior counsel.
The underlying action began in 2019 and was settled in June 2022 without an admission of liability. The settlement provided for payment of 50% of damages when assessed or agreed and included a €4 million payment on account.
The plaintiff's original bill of costs totalled €1,688,436.59. Following adjudication, the legal costs adjudicator allowed €520,000 across four elements of the solicitors' instructions fee. The HSE argued that €375,000 would have been more appropriate. It also contended that counsel's fees should have been €75,000 for senior counsel and €50,000 for junior counsel.
The HSE accepted that the litigation was complex and high-value but argued that its complexity and novelty had been overstated. It also challenged how comparator cases were used and said the adjudicator had not adequately explained how the statutory factors translated into the figures allowed.
The court rejected those arguments. Mr Justice Bradley found that the adjudicator had applied the statutory criteria, reviewed extensive files and expert material, and provided sufficient reasons. The case involved more than 30 expert witnesses, 11 factual witnesses, about 45 reports and an estimated 10-week trial.
The court also held that comparator cases were properly used as a final “sense-check”, rather than as a substitute for the statutory assessment. The HSE's review was therefore refused. The question of the costs of the review itself was left for a May 13 hearing.