Barry Magee

Mr Magee joined the Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator in 2020 and will take the reins from Paul Behan upon Mr Behan’s retirement next month.

He qualified as a solicitor in 2000, initially working in private practice before going on to hold positions in both the Chief State Solicitor’s Office and the Railway Procurement Agency.

He also served for a time as chairperson of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal/International Protections Appeals Tribunal.

Justice minister Helen McEntee said: “With almost 25 years of professional experience spanning private practice and public sector positions, Mr Magee has a deep understanding of the work of the legal costs adjudicator.

“I would like to congratulate Mr Magee on his appointment and wish him well in his new role.”

She added: “Mr Behan played a pivotal role in overseeing significant changes in Irish law as the first chief legal costs adjudicator.

“He was a guiding force in setting up the structures and systems and High Court rules required for the implementation of then new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators in 2019.

“The change that occurred in this area of law called for a leader of exceptional experience and expertise, and Mr Behan rose to the challenge.

“I would like to wish him all the best as he begins the next chapter of his life.”

The Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator today published its 2023 annual report, revealing that there were 1,048 applications for adjudication last year — a 12 per cent increase on 2022.

Despite the higher caseload, the average waiting time from application for adjudication to initial hearing date remained at seven weeks.

The overall value of claims for legal costs lodged for adjudication in 2023 was €163.5 million. There were 1,102 adjudication cases with a value €210.2m disposed of in 2023.

The value of adjudications in hand as of the end of 2023 was €97.4m.

Mrs McEntee said: “The Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator has delivered the modernisation of the old Taxing-Master function, making it more transparent in its decision-making processes.

“This report clearly demonstrates that we now have greater transparency in how legal costs determinations are being made.”