Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Brief fees for counsel

Legal area

Court

25 Jun 2021

LAM KIN CHUNG v. SOKA GAKKAI INTERNATIONAL OF HONG KONG LTD

Citation

[2021] HKCFI 1724
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP1002/2017

The Master applied the 'necessary or proper' test and concluded that one senior counsel together with one junior counsel was sufficient; SC II's brief fees were disallowed because his involvement was unnecessary and amounted to an unjustified luxury, while fees of SC I and JC I were properly recoverable; the review was dismissed and the taxation decision upheld.
2 Mar 2017

WONG MAN HON FREDERICK v. CHINA TIMES SECURITIES LTD

Citation

WONG MAN HON FREDERICK v. CHINA TIMES SECURITIES LTD
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA2715/2016

On party and party taxation the court will not ordinarily allow costs for more than one senior fee earner in a matter that is not especially complex or document heavy; the partner's time was disallowed, a single solicitor's reasonable hours were allowed (totaling 36.5 hours for Cheng) with fees and brief fees adjusted accordingly, and total costs were assessed at HKD 444,138 payable by the plaintiff to the defendant pursuant to the order of 3 February 2017.