Legal

Law Society and Bar Council at odds with SME lobby group over legal costs report

Irish SME association hits out at report recommending controlling legal costs by system of non-binding guidelines rather than table of maximum costs

The development follows years of reports and debate over the cost of legal action in Ireland, amid suggestions from some that Ireland’s litigation costs are among the highest in the developed world and favours wealthy litigants. Picture: Getty

A report on legal costs, commissioned by agencies representing barristers and solicitors in Ireland, misrepresented the issue and should be of “utmost concern” to the government, the leading lobby group for SMEs has told the government.

In a letter to the Department of Justice, sent last month, Isme heavily criticised a recent EY report on legal costs which suggested that the issue had been misrepresented in Ireland over recent years.

It said it was “very ...