The High Court reduced a family law assessor’s fees by €22,050 after measuring the costs of his section 47 reports and court attendances. The judge cut 147 hours from the time claimed but did not revisit the earlier order that the parties share the assessor’s fees equally.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Michael White on 30 April 2014, concerned only the amount due to the notice party, anonymised as B.S. The court said it had no jurisdiction to alter the order setting the parties’ liability and apportionment. The respondent’s argument that he was not liable beyond an initial payment was rejected.
The assessor had been appointed in December 2009 in long-running, contentious custody and access proceedings concerning three children. His stated terms included an hourly rate of €150, travel time at half that rate, and a typical report estimate of €3,000 to €3,500. The judgment records that after receiving the case papers, he warned that the work would exceed the 20 hours covered by the preliminary payment.
By February 2010, an invoice statement showed €23,374.75 due, with a further €5,000 to €7,000 estimated through a listed hearing. The respondent told the court he lacked funds to pay half, but the judgment records no objection at that hearing to the work or fee levels. The assessor later invoiced €53,499.61 for work covered by a final invoice, and sought total fees and outlay of €79,874.36.
The dispute came before the High Court after the parties did not proceed with taxation of the costs. On 12 July 2013, the court decided, following submissions and with no objection from the principal parties, to hear the costs application and measure the fees itself. It heard the assessor and a legal costs accountant called for the applicant over hearings in November 2013 and January 2014.
The judge found that the assessor had spent the time recorded and described his work as exceptional. However, applying principles used in taxation, the court considered the overall cost excessive and reduced the hours allowed for reports and correspondence. The reductions covered the first invoice, the October 2010 invoice and the period spent closing the file. In total, 147 hours were removed, reducing the fees by €22,050.
The judgment’s final paragraph provided the reduction. It did not state a revised total payable or make a new order changing how the parties were to share liability.