Gold Coast lawyer Beau Hartnett of Hartnett Lawyers ordered to pay court costs as gross sum

A Gold Coast lawyer who “exorbitantly” charged an elderly client $288,000, continued to invoice her after she died, went after her children for money, then appealed a $311,000 court order has had another loss in court.

A Gold Coast lawyer who “exorbitantly” charged an elderly client $288,000, continued to invoice her after she died, went after her children for money, then appealed a $311,000 court order has had another loss in court.

Beau Hartnett, of Surfers Paradise-based Hartnett Lawyers, was ordered to pay more than $311,000 last September after charging his client $288,000 to enforce a $30,000 mortgage. Now he’s been ordered to hand over another $75,000 in costs.

Documents lodged with the Supreme Court of NSW, said Mr Hartnett had been ordered to pay $70,000 to Anthony Robert Bell for legal costs after losing an appeal against the $311,000 order in October.

Gold Coast solicitor Beau Hartnett.

Mr Hartnett has been subject to an asset freeze since November 2022, the judgement said, and was yet to pay Mr Bell the judgement debt.

Mr Hartnett’s solicitor unsuccessfully argued that a motion seeking the costs payment be made as a gross sum had been filed too late.

As well as being ordered to make the costs payment, Mr Hartnett had another $5000 added to the order to cover the further costs incurred by Mr Bell in chasing the $70,000.

The original case was brought by Mr Bell, who inherited a property in Ballina after the 2013 death of his mother, Mabel Deakin-Bell.

The property was subject to a $30,000 mortgage in favour of his father’s first wife Gwendoline Deakin-Bell, who engaged Mr Hartnett to prepare her will and seek repayment of the mortgage.

After the property sold, the net proceeds of $352,137 were paid into Mr Hartnett’s trust account and the lawyer issued Gwendoline invoices that came to more than $288,000 – paying himself from the proceeds of the property sale.

The court heard examples of the invoicing, including one where $36,201 was charged to file a statement of claim – 27 times more than the $1321 allowed by regulation.

The initial Judgement, in the New South Wales Supreme Court, said even Gwendoline’s death in 2018 did not stop Mr Hartnett from billing her.

Gold Coast solicitor Beau Hartnett.

The excessive invoicing left Mr Bell to chase his inheritance in court and Justice Elisabeth Peden found he was only obliged to pay $37,345 towards Gwendoline’s legal costs.

Judge Peden ordered Mr Hartnett pay the difference between that sum and what he paid himself from the sale proceeds – or $251,255. He was also ordered to pay $60,000 interest.

Mr Hartnett, who also operates Ausway Australian Migration Specialists with wife Suzanne Weel, appealed the decision in March last year, disputing the court’s jurisdiction and the amount he was ordered to pay.

NSW Supreme Court Chief Justice Andrew Bell, along with judges Christine Adamson and John Griffiths, rejected the appeal with costs, saying “the highest standards of integrity are expected of members of the legal profession, and exorbitant charging debases the reputation of the legal profession as well as subjecting clients or others involved in litigation to unwarranted costs”.

Originally published as Gold Coast lawyer Beau Hartnett of Hartnett Lawyers ordered to pay court costs as gross sum