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- On 8 September 2022 the court ordered a solicitor to refund his deceased 81 year old client more than $310,00 for exorbitantly overcharging his client for a repayment of a $30,000 mortgage that he initially estimated would cost her between $3,900 to $6,500.
- The Solicitor billed the client $288,601.03
- A costs assessor determined the fair and reasonable costs were $40,000.00
- The solicitor's initial estimate to do repayment of a mortgage of $30,0009 work for his client was $3.900 to $6,500
- The solicitor invoiced client a total of $288,601.03.
- The solicitor refused to provide itemised bills in a form and including such detail as to how the legal costs were made up in a way that would allow the legal costs to be assessed.
- The court gave some examples of the solicitor's exorbitant overcharging
- $36,201 to file and serve the Statement of Claim for possession (4 pages and without complexity), an amount approximately 27 times greater than the $1,321 allowed by the regulation;
- $23,031,53 to apply for Default Judgment, an amount approximately 11 times greater than the $2,105 allowed by the scale
- Many time entries concern :internal meetings: and internal emails". "perusing memo regarding matter status". The purpose of those charged were not disclosed and no evidence how such tasks progressed the matter.
The solicitor was required to repay the deceased client a total, including interest the sum of $311,356.47.
NEWS FLASH!!!
