A Bellville medical doctor who refused to pay ”excessive” legal fees on Friday won the first round of his Cape High Court battle against his own lawyers.
Acting Judge Michael Donen dismissed an application for summary judgement against the doctor.
A claimant is given summary judgement if a defendant to a summons notifies his intention to defend the action without having a valid defence.
In court papers, Dr Ben Broens said he requested a detailed account after being billed R204 135 by his divorce lawyers, advocate Andre Ferreira and attorney Johannes Brink. Instead, he paid a sum of R60 000 into Ferreira’s bank account — an amount that he considered reasonable.
His failure to pay the full amount resulted in a summons being served on him by his own lawyers, he said.
Broens said the cost structure was never explained to him, and the service he received from his team did not measure up to what an ordinary member of the public would expect from a competent legal team.
He said both Ferreira and Brink, throughout the divorce proceedings, led him to understand that the dispute to be decided entailed simple legal principles.
Broens added: ”Never in my wildest dreams did I think the costs in the adjudication of a simple divorce would amount to almost half a million.”
Since receiving the account for R204 135, he had been billed for the additional sum of R207 584, he said.
On behalf of Ferreira and Brink, advocate Martin Daling contended that Broens’s dissatisfaction with the costs was not a defence to the claim, and that Broens should take it up with the Bar Council.
Advocate Francis Murray argued on behalf of Broens that it was for the court adjudicating the fees dispute to decide whether the fees were justified, and that Broens had to be given an opportunity to present his defence.
He said Broens would be deprived of such an opportunity if the application for summary judgement were granted. — Sapa