The former Anglo Irish Bank has agreed that freezing orders on the accounts of members of the family of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn can be varied to allow €430,000 be paid to meet the family's legal fees for the period May to July.
The €430,000 fees include a €135,000 fee to Dublin law firm Eversheds for 485 hours worked on behalf of the family between May 12th and June 29th last. Those fees are based on hourly rates of €370 per partner, €282 for senior solicitors, €227 for solicitors and €97 for trainee solicitors.
Eversheds may also be paid an additional sum up to €150,000 (net of VAT) for further work from this month up to early August.
The €430,000 sum also includes a €20,000 brief fee for each of the two senior counsel who represented the family in the freezing order proceedings against them, plus refreshers of €4,000 per day for senior counsel. The junior counsel brief fee for that application was €12,500 with refreshers of €2,500 per day.
The two senior counsel who represented Sean Quinn Snr, Sean Quinn Jnr and Peter Quinn on June 26th last when judgment was delivered by Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne against them in contempt proceedings will get €3,000 each for that day.
Both senior counsel will get another €4,000 each for representing the Quinns on June 29th, when the judge made various coercive orders sought by the bank. Senior counsel and junior counsel will get additional payments for work up to July 20th next.
In relation to the bank's bid for an order withdrawing reference of a jurisdictional issue to the European Court of Justice, the Quinns' senior counsel brief fee for is €10,000 while junior counsel's brief fee is €6,000. The €430,000 also includes a €10,000 fee for a Cypriot law firm who provided advice for the family.
The fees payment variation was made today by Mr Justice Peter Kelly after he was told the fees had been agreed to by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo, which secured account freezing orders last month in its proceedings aimed at restraining the dissipation of assets valued up to €500 million in the Quinns international property group.
Also on consent of Barry O'Donnell, for the bank, the judge varied the freezing orders to clear the way for completion by Bank of Ireland of the sale of the Belfry Hotel and golf course, on which Bank of Ireland holds security. That variation was necessary in light of a company shareholding held by Sean Quinn Jnr.
The freezing orders restrain Mr Quinn's children, his nephew Peter Quinn, two sons in law - Stephen Kelly and Niall McPartland - and a number of international companies dealing with assets owned or controlled by them worldwide below €50m each.
The Quinn defendants have been allowed up to €8,000 for ordinary living expenses each, subject to approval by the bank's lawyers and receipts being provided, until the injunction orders return to court on July 24th or further order.
Seeking the variations earlier, Bill Shipsey SC, for the Quinn side, said members of the family are facing three sets of legal proceedings and the bank had agreed to the variations sought.
Three of the family - Sean Quinn senior, Sean Jnr and Peter Quinn - had been given an opportunity to purge findings of contempt against them and would be back in court later this month, he said.
Separately, Mr Justice Frank Clarke would later this month hear the bank's application to discharge his order referring to the European Court of Justice an issue raised by the Quinns in proceedings brought by them in Cyprus. That discharge order is sought following the dismissal of the Cyprus case earlier this year.
The third matter is the July 24th hearing before Mr Justice Kelly of the bank's application to continue the account freezing orders pending the outcome of the full action aimed at restraining dissipation of assets.
Also on July 24th, the bank will seek orders appointing receivers over the assets of Mr Quinn's daughters, Mr Kelly and Mr McPartland in light of findings of asset dissipation by members of the family made by Ms Justice Dunne in the contempt proceedings.
Receivers have already been appointed over the assets of Sean Jnr and Peter Quinn following findings they and Sean Quinn senior breached court orders of June and July 2011 restraining them putting assets in the IPG beyond the bank's reach.
The bank is seeking to appoint receivers over assets of the other members of the family given the contempt findings and contents of a video recording of a meeting in Kiev, Ukraine, in January 2012, published last week in the Irish Mail on Sunday.
That recording, the bank claims, showed Sean Quinn Jnr and Peter Quinn discussing movement of funds and also showed Peter Quinn was prepared to lie to the court.
