This article is from page 16 of the 2012-10-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
ALMOST half of the fees paid to Clare solicitors under the criminal free legal aid system were paid to just under 20 per cent of those on the legal aid panel.
Figures from the Department of Justice show that solicitor Tara Godfrey was the highest earner from criminal legal aid cases in the county for the second year in a row.
The Ennis solicitor earned € 144,434 last year, a decrease of € 19,265 on the previous year when her payment reached € 163,699.
The payment to solicitors in Clare last year was down more than € 100,000 on the previous year in total.
In 2011 € 468,892 was paid to solicitors in Clare, with a further € 235,723.60 paid towards the provision of up to two counsel or barristers, doctors, psychiatrists, engineers, forensic scientists and language experts for defence cases in criminal hearings in the Clare District and Circuit Courts.
Among the other top earners on the Clare legal aid panel last year was Ennis-based solicitor Darragh Hassett who earned € 96,092. Mr Hassett had graduated from third to second place on the top earners list. In 2010 he earned € 110,130 but was then surpassed in earnings by Ms Godfrey and former Kilrush-based solicitor Eugene O’Kelly.
Mr O’Kelly who was appointed to the bench in March this year and is now a district court judge in Limerick, earned € 71,602 from free legal aid cases in 2011.
He earned € 135,748 the previous year.
Judge Kelly’s clients are now served by his former legal partner of five years Patrick Moylan.
John P Casey, based in Ennis, earned € 30,293 from legal aid work in criminal cases last year; Jenny Fitzgibbon from Shannon earned € 29,838; and, according to the Department of Justice, William Cahir Solicitor took in € 29,287.
In total, the top six earners on the legal aid panel earned € 257,112 between them. There were 23 solicitors or firms named in total.