Keddies Case Not 'complex Or Difficult'
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday November 27, 2008
THE head of Sydney law firm Stacks/Goudkamp has described as "extraordinary" the $261,634.99 charged by the state's largest specialised personal injury law firm, Keddies Lawyers, for a case involving an amputee motorcyclist that was neither complex nor difficult.
Mr Tom Goudkamp, the managing director of Stacks/Goudkamp, said yesterday that his firm had done much of the work over two years on the personal injury claim of Mr Mitchell Smith, now 30, who is disputing all $320,230.24 in fees and other expenses that were retained from his compensation settlement of $1.5 million.In an application for a Supreme Court costs assessment to be opposed by Keddies, Mr Smith, whose case settled in July 2005 - more than three years after he was thrown from his bike when a car suddenly turned in front of him on the night of February 8, 2002 - has disputed the entirety of what he claims is a huge and unjustified legal bill. Mr Goudkamp said yesterday that by mid-2004 he was in the process of arranging an informal settlement conference with the NRMA, the insurer of the car that hit Mr Smith, resulting in the amputation of his right arm above the elbow and a closed head injury that left him in a week-long coma.Mr Smith, told of the possible range of damages he might expect to receive, can only recall a figure of about $750,000. He regarded that as too low and switched suddenly to Keddies Lawyers. A year later he received $1 million himself of a total settlement of $1.5 million but says he has no recollection of ever receiving a bill. Keddies maintains it gave him one when he received his compensation cheque.In June this year, after a series of articles were published in the Herald about multiple complaints against Keddies, Mr Smith requested an itemised bill from Keddies. He later received a non-itemised list that several lawyers consulted by the Herald dispute is a proper bill as it did not include any indication of who had performed work done on his case, for how long or at what cost to justify the total of $261,634.99 including GST charged in professional fees.Keddies told the Herald this week that its fees were appropriate for its work and the results achieved. "Mr Smith came to us unhappy with the efforts of his previous lawyers, so we took on his case and achieved a payout more than double the insurer's previous offer in what was a difficult and complex case," a spokesman said.Mr Goudkamp told the Herald yesterday that the NRMA had not made any offer at the time Mr Smith had changed law firms. "The case was not difficult or complex" and the NRMA had admitted liability with contributory negligence that had little supporting evidence, he maintained."I regard Keddies's fees as extraordinary," said Mr Goudkamp. Both the Law Society of NSW and the Australian Lawyers Alliance advised those with concerns about legal fees to raise them with the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
