Justices criticisms of fees charged by Shine Lawyers
In at least two cases, presiding Justices have criticised the fees charged by Shine Lawyers. In a West Australian stolen wages class action, Justice Murphy said: Standing back and taking an overall view, even having regard to the difficulties associated with the characteristics of the cohort of class members in this case, such fees are seriously overblown.
It may not be the whole cause but it seems likely the costs blowout can be largely put down to excessive hourly rates charged by Shine for its unqualified law clerks. Even after the costs referee’s reductions, and discounts which Shine proposes, I consider the overall costs to be too high.
In a second class action brought by Shine Lawyers against Westpac, the Australian Financial Review reported that Justice Lee took aim at the fees being charged by independent experts and travel fees charged by the lawyers, while also singling out as excessive the pleading fees charged by the lawyers. “An extraordinary amount of money has been charged for the preparation of pleadings and that’s no criticism of Shine,” Justice Lee said.
The article notes that the lawyers claimed more than $10 million in costs, which would reduce the amount payable to group members to as little as $222 each.
