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	Legal Costs Amounted to 15.65% of Redress Board Awards in 2005; Dublin Solicitors Firm Headed Fee Rankings at €4.9 Million Finfacts [Ireland] July 24, 2006 http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_10006684.shtml Legal costs paid by the State for applications to the Residential Institutions Redress Board are likely to top €200 million, on the basis of figures published last week in the board's annual report. The redress board, was established in December 2002 to make financial awards to people who were abused as children while resident in State institutions. The board had received 14,541 applications by last December, when applications closed. The board's average award to date is approximately €76,000. Twenty applicants received awards of more than €200,000, while the largest award was €300,000. Applicants were represented by 732 firms of solicitors, and legal costs have so far been paid in respect of 2,710 applications. Those costs have amounted to €37,464,884, with an average payment to solicitors of €11,895* for each application to the board, equivalent to 15.65% of the award. By contrast, the average costs and expenses incurred by the Board in respect of an application amount to €3,504** or 4.6% of the award. * This figure has been calculated by dividing the total amount of costs paid to date by the number of applications in which costs were paid. These figures do not include costs paid in respect of High Court proceedings (which costs average €4,945 per case in which such costs have been paid). ** This figure has been calculated by dividing the total cost of running the Board (excluding awards and applicants' legal costs) by the total number of applications finalised at the end of 2005. In 2005, the board paid solicitors €28.6 million in costs for 2,033 cases, comprising €24.8 million in board costs and €3.8 million in related High Court costs, an average of €14,077.62 per case. Dublin Solicitors Lavelle and Coleman headed the fees list, earning €4,901,041.92, from 325 cases. Michael E. Hanahoe & Co made €4,428,011.36, from 240 cases.
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