A JUDGE savagely attacked defence lawyers yesterday, accusing them of deliberately underestimating how long cases would last so they could bump up their fees.
In the District Court, Judge Sweeney said lawyers were 'playing the system' and sacrificing the interests of their clients so they could line their own pockets.
He said it was more profitable for solicitors and barristers if they handled five one-day cases in a week, rather than a single trial which ran from Monday to Friday.
The judge claimed defence lawyers frequently estimated cases would last just one day when it should have been clear they could not be completed that quickly.
This situation usually resulted in the case being adjourned. And clients sometimes had to wait up to six months before their case came back to court. Lawyers, however, were still paid for attending court on those days when the case was expected to resume but did not.
'That is clearly the rationale behind so many obviously two or three-day cases being ultimately shortened to one day by defence lawyers,' Judge Sweeney said.