Hundreds of Irish barristers have been using debt collection services to chase up solicitors firms for unpaid legal fees. The service was introduced by the Bar of Ireland in 2014 and has since been engaged by approximately 300 of its members.
Recent comments by one junior counsel highlighted the difficulty some barristers face in receiving payment from solicitors firms. Barristers are limited in their ability to advertise and market their services and are often reliant on work being recommended to them by solicitors.
“Some solicitors take advantage of this reliance and simply don't pay barristers,” said he.
The Bar of Ireland confirmed that collecting fees is a major challenge for its barristers, adding that the outstanding figure of unpaid fees “remains substantial.” They said they are in dialogue with the Law Society, which represents Irish solicitors, on the issue.
They have engaged a debt collection company called LawServ to assist its members and uptake on the service has been high.
The Law Society denied that the problem of solicitors not paying fees is anywhere near as widespread as claimed. They said they were not aware of any specific case where a solicitor had failed to pay fees to a barrister.
“We have no doubt that in the great majority of cases where the barrister hasn't been paid, the solicitor hasn't been paid either,” said the general director.
The Irish legal system prevents a barrister from acting for a client in a contentious case unless he or she is first engaged by an instructing solicitor. Fees are then paid by the client through the solicitor and passed on to the barrister.
The Law Society accepted that any case of a solicitor receiving these fees and not passing them along to the barrister would be misconduct. But they said that in practically every complaint they have investigated on the issue – some 59 in the last three years – the solicitor in question had not yet been paid for their services either.