Latest news with #legalfees
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Wirral school defends head teacher's £210k legal bill
A school trust has defended spending more than £200,000 in legal fees for their head teacher's legal action against two Flanagan, head of Pensby High School in Heswall, Wirral, took legal against a couple he accused of harassing him. The parents denied his claims but the teacher won a court settlement of £10,000 after final £210.576.79 legal bill was not paid out of the school budget but trust funds raised through hiring out its sports pitches and TV film trust funds for the school would normally have been used to pay for building or roof repairs. The legal fees for the case had been estimated at £545,000 but were less as the case was settled.A spokesman for the school's trust said it was "fully supportive" of Mr Flanagan's harassment claim "as part of our legal obligation to protect the safety and welfare of those employed" at the added: "This duty of care includes providing support for legal fees where staff are the victims of alleged harassment. "The trust is permitted to provide such support through self-generated funds – primarily income generated from private use of its grounds and sports facilities."Mr Flanagan claimed he had been accused of "bullying" children when they were punished for breaking school said parents Keith and Stephanie Critchley had been abusive and threatening several parents denied the claim and said they raised concerns that their daughters were being bullied "on a daily basis" at the school but were not being listened to. Mr Flanagan said the ordeal had been "a hugely upsetting and traumatic period".He added: "Legal proceedings were always the option of last resort and they followed strenuous efforts by the school governors to seek to end the harassment." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Irish Times
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Government plans for €35,000 fees cap to halt High Court delays to building projects
The Government wants to cap legal fees that can be claimed from the State in environmental planning cases, in a bid to discourage High Court actions against infrastructure and housing projects. Ministers have been taking advice on the measures from Attorney General Rossa Fanning this week. This is being done in the hope of stemming the tide of legal actions that have held up schemes relating to wastewater, roads and housing. The move reflects growing anxiety in the Coalition about the need to boost the State's basic infrastructure, as concerns grow about housing delivery being hindered by constraints in electricity and water networks. One option under discussion is to impose a limit of about €35,000 on legal costs that litigants can claim from the State if they succeed in a judicial review challenge against a planning decision. READ MORE Such moves would apply to High Court cases taken under the Aarhus Convention, an international agreement that governs access to justice in environmental matters. Minister for the Environment Darragh O'Brien is required, under new planning legislation, to 'prescribe monetary amounts' for costs in Aarhus proceedings, after consulting with Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers. On this question, the law requires ministers to take into account 'the need to ensure that court and judicial resources are utilised for the common good and in the interests of justice'. They must also consider 'the cost to the Exchequer'. Such measures are included in the Planning and Development Act of 2024, an extensive body of law to overhaul and speed up the planning process. The act is one of the biggest pieces of legislation in the State's history. Minister for Housing James Browne is commencing the law in phases, with measures taking force this week to establish An Coimisiún Pleanála in succession to An Bord Pleanála. The new commission is chaired by Paul Reid , former chief executive of the Health Service Executive. Despite the worsening housing crisis, thousands of new homes in certain parts of the Dublin region have been delayed because they cannot access electricity . Uisce Éireann has separately warned it will have no capacity for new housing connections within three years if a new north Dublin wastewater plant does not proceed. Permission for the plant was struck down by the High Court five years ago. A cap in the region of €35,000 has yet to be settled and people involved in the talks stressed the debate was still open. 'There's a scheme being developed under the legislation but it hasn't been finalised,' said one figure with knowledge of the talks. Asked for comment on the prospect of a €35,000 cap, Mr O'Brien's spokeswoman said: 'Proposals are currently being developed and will be assessed. No decision has been made at this stage.' People familiar with the proposal believe it is likely to provoke resistance from environmental campaigners. Any move to impose a cap would drastically reduce lawyers' earning potential in judicial review cases taken on environmental grounds. Legal sources say successful litigants often rack up legal fees of hundreds of thousands of euro in cases taken on a 'no foal no fee' basis by lawyers, where litigants incur no fees if they lose.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Russian oil tycoon accused of cheating with secret second family faces jail for not paying legal fees in multi-million pound divorce fight
The wife of a Russian oil tycoon has demanded her husband go to jail after he allegedly failed to pay her legal fees amid their multi-million pound divorce. Mikhail Kroupeev, the non-executive chairman of energy company Gulfsands, appeared at the High Court in London today following the collapse of his 36-year marriage. His wife, Elena Kroupeev, discovered in 2023 her husband had been living a double life with a secret family in Russia. Mr Kroupeev now stands accused of refusing to comply with numerous court orders following the pair's 'tempestuous' separation. Elena Kroupeev began proceedings for a financial settlement in July 2024, and in February, her husband was ordered to pay just over £195,000 towards her legal fees. But her lawyers said he had failed to comply with that and other subsequent orders demanding he reveal the true extent of the wealth from his business empire. He therefore owed her more than £837,000, they said, while a freezing order had also been made covering £38million ($51 million) of his assets. Ms Kroupeev's lawyers said the judge should now issue an order for his imprisonment for contempt of court. 'It is suggested that nothing short of a period of imprisonment will be an effective punishment,' the lawyers said in their court submission. Mr Kroupeev's lawyer Michael Glaser said the allegations about their marriage and alleged affairs should not have been made. 'Not only are they not relevant, they are denied,' he told the court, saying the contested court order was subject to an appeal. However, the judge rejected his attempt to have the case adjourned. The couple, who are both Russian nationals but have British citizenship, moved to Britain in 1993. Ms Kroupeev's lawyer Justin Warshaw said Mr Kroupeev had made his fortune through his connections with Yuri Shafranik, a former Russian energy minister. As well as Gulfsands, which Ms Kroupeev's lawyers said had a contract to export oil from Syria, his business interests included Jupiter Energy, which is involved in oil and gas exports in Kazakhstan, and Waterford Finance which specialises in oil, gas and other energy projects. 'They have been a very wealthy family for a very long time,' Mr Warshaw told the court, saying they lived an 'opulent lifestyle'. The couple's assets were extensive, including a £15million house in north London, luxury homes in Portugal and Turkey, and a portfolio of properties in Russia worth 10 million pounds, her lawyers said. The couple also took luxurious holidays that involved flying by private jet, they said. 'A large motivation for travelling privately would be to ensure that the family dogs could go on holiday with the family,' her legal team said in their submission. While Ms Kroupeev was in court on Wednesday, her husband, who is in Cyprus, attended remotely by videolink. The hearing continues.
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Dementia patient's fees deemed 'unfair' and must be repaid by council
A council in south London has been found to have unfairly charged a man with dementia nearly £6,500 in interest and legal fees when he failed to reply to requests for payment of his Council has been told by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman that it must improve its working practices after failing to consider the man had dementia, before he passed council has also been ordered to apologise to the man's daughter and pay back the fees as well as an additional £300 for the distress caused.A spokesperson for the council said they fully accept the findings and had acted on the ombudsman's recommendations. The ombudsman said the council had failed to communicate with the man, called Mr Y in its report, about the charges for his care until late 2022, by which time there was a "significant" debt worth £32,813.32. The council said it did not have a policy on charging interest and legal fees on overdue charges for adult social care, and that it referred debts to solicitors to progress debt recovery on its ombudsman's investigation concluded the actions of both the council and the solicitors were at fault and recommended introducing policies and procedures on charging these costs when it comes to unpaid care charges.A spokesperson for Lambeth Council said it was committed to providing the "best service possible for all of its residents" and that it worked hard to resolve problems quickly and fairly whenever they arose."We are determined to learn from this and improve how we communicate with residents about care charges. "We regret that our service fell short in this case and remain committed to working with residents and the ombudsman to improve our services going forward."
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Wife of Russian oligarch asks UK court to jail him over unpaid legal fees
LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - The wife of a Russian oil tycoon asked a judge at the High Court in London on Wednesday to jail her husband, alleging he had repeatedly failed to pay her legal fees in their multi-million dollar divorce case. Mikhail Kroupeev, the non-executive chairman of energy company Gulfsands, is accused by his wife Elena Kroupeeva of refusing to comply with numerous courts orders following the collapse of their 36-year marriage. According to submissions from her legal team to the court, the couple separated in "tempestuous" circumstances after Kroupeeva discovered in 2023 her husband had for most of the last 20 years been living a double life with a secret second family in Russia. She began proceedings for a financial settlement in July 2024, and in February, Kroupeev was ordered to pay just over 195,000 pounds towards her legal fees. But her lawyers said he had failed to comply with that and other subsequent orders demanding he reveal the true extent of the wealth from his business empire. He now owed her more than 837,000 pounds, they said, while a freezing order had also been made covering 38 million pounds ($51 million) of his assets. Her lawyers said the judge should now issue an order for his imprisonment for contempt of court. "It is suggested that nothing short of a period of imprisonment will be an effective punishment," her lawyers said in their court submission. Kroupeev's lawyer Michael Glaser said the allegations about their marriage and alleged affairs should not have been made. "Not only are they not relevant, they are denied," he told the court, saying the contested court order was subject to an appeal. However, the judge rejected his attempt to have the case adjourned. The couple, who are both Russian nationals but have British citizenship, moved to Britain in 1993. Kroupeeva's lawyer Justin Warshaw said Kroupeev had made his fortune through his connections with Yuri Shafranik, a former Russian energy minister. As well as Gulfsands, which Kroupeeva's lawyers said had a contract to export oil from Syria, his business interests included Jupiter Energy, which is involved in oil and gas exports in Kazakhstan, and Waterford Finance which specialises in oil, gas and other energy projects. "They have been a very wealthy family for a very long time," Justin Warshaw, Kroupeeva's lawyer told the court, saying they lived an "opulent lifestyle". The couple's assets were extensive, including a 15 million pound house in north London, luxury homes in Portugal and Turkey, and a portfolio of properties in Russia worth 10 million pounds, her lawyers said. The couple also took luxurious holidays that involved flying by private jet, they said. "A large motivation for travelling privately would be to ensure that the family dogs could go on holiday with the family," her legal team said in their submission. While Kroupeeva was in court on Wednesday, her husband, who is in Cyprus, attended remotely by videolink. The hearing continues. ($1 = 0.7432 pounds)
