Beau Hartnett of Hartnett Lawyers sues children of dead client over $36,000 invoice

A Gold Coast lawyer who "extortionately" charged an elderly client $288,000 and continued to invoice her after she died, then went after her children for cash. Here's how that worked out for him

It's been revealed a Gold Coast lawyer who charged an elderly client $288,000 to enforce a $30,000 mortgage, and then continued to invoice her after she died, also went after her children for cash.

Beau Hartnett, of Hartnett Lawyers, was last month ordered to pay $311,000 for charging “extortionate” fees to Gwendoline Deakin-Bell, who hired him to chase a $30,000 mortgage on her behalf.

The September 8 judgment, in the New South Wales Supreme Court, said even the death of Deakin-Bell in 2018 had not stopped Mr Hartnett from billing her for his time.

Mr Hartnett is appealing the decision, with the matter due in the NSW Court of Appeal in November.

Meanwhile documents from a second matter, in Southport Magistrates Court, have revealed Mr Hartnett also sent an invoice for more than $36,000 to the adult children of Ms Deakin-Bell, three years after her death.

After they didn’t pay the June 2021 bill, Mr Hartnett sued them for the $36,013, plus interest and costs of $2318.

The claim said Linda Lynch of Beaudesert and James Halmarick of Robina were liable to pay the invoice as they were executors of their mother’s 2012 will.

Mr Hartnett agreed to dismiss the claim against Ms Lynch and Mr Halmarick on October 12.

The NSW case was brought by Anthony Robert Bell, who inherited a West Ballina property after the 2013 death of his mother, Mabel Deakin-Bell.

Gwendoline Deakin-Bell had a $30,000 mortgage against the property, which went on to sell for $376,000, with the net proceeds going into Mr Hartnett’s trust account.

The judgement said Gwendoline had authorised Mr Hartnett to use funds from the trust account to pay his $288,601 fees, the $30,000 mortgage and a $33,834 payment to the court.

The next day, he transferred the $288,601 from the trust account to his office account, and paid Gwendoline her $30,000.

Mr Bell was left to chase his inheritance in court.

Hartnett Lawyers has recently vacated its office at 60 Appel St Surfers Paradise after it was sold for $3.9m in a sale that settled September 14.

The two-level office was sold by company Hallowvale, of which Mr Hartnett and his wife Suzanne Weel are joint directors and shareholders.

Hartnett Lawyers office at 60 Appel St, Surfers Paradise.

Lawyer who invoiced dead client ordered to pay $311,000

September 15, 2022: A Gold Coast solicitor has been ordered to pay more than $311,000 after charging “extortionate” fees of $288,000 to enforce a $30,000 mortgage.

The judgement, in the New South Wales Supreme Court said even the death of his client in 2018 had not stopped Beau Hartnett, of Surfers Paradise-based Hartnett Lawyers, from billing her for his time.

The case was brought by Anthony Robert Bell, who inherited a property in West 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.

The September 8 judgment, which refers to the Deakin-Bell women by their first names for clarity, said Mr Hartnett had acted for Gwendoline from 2014, preparing her will and then seeking repayment of the $30,000 mortgage from Mr Bell on her behalf.

In a separate judgment in 2016, the court ordered the property be sold, with proceeds to first satisfy the $30,000 mortgage as well as covering Gwendoline’s legal fees and any accrued interest.

The remaining proceeds were ordered to be paid to the administrator or executor of Mabel’s will, or to the court if no administrator or executor had been appointed.

Gold Coast solicitor Beau Hartnett.

The property sold for $376,000, with the net proceeds of $352,137 paid into Mr Hartnett’s trust account, on October 31, 2016.

In 2014 and 2015, Mr Hartnett issued Gwendoline invoices totalling $77,739. After the sale in 2016 he issued two more with a combined total over $210,800.

According to the judgement, Mr Hartnett had consistently justified the fees on the basis of his costs agreement and also a clause in the mortgage documentation.

In November 2016, Gwendoline signed an authority allowing Mr Hartnett to use funds from the trust account to pay his $288,601 fees, the $30,000 mortgage and a $33,834 payment to the court.

The next day, he transferred the $288,601 from the trust account to his office account, and paid Gwendoline her $30,000. According to the judgement, Mr Hartnett did not transfer the $33,834 court payment as ordered until a further court order was made in 2021.

THE GRIT AND INSIDE STORIES FROM THE COAST’S CRIMINAL LAWYERS

The judgement said Mr Bell had repeatedly, yet unsuccessfully, asked Mr Hartnett for itemised accounts of his fees, as well as details of the sale of the property.

Mr Bell obtained probate on November 29, 2016, but Mr Hartnett did not provide any invoices or other requested information until after Mr Bell commenced legal action against him in 2020.

The court document said Mr Hartnett had used a “tactic of deflecting and delaying” Mr Bell’s requests:

– by promising updates that never eventuated;

– suggesting he did not have the requested information;

– suggesting he need instructions from his client but never showing he’d sought them;

– and seeking extensions of time for no apparent reason.

A Supreme Court costs assessor was assigned to the case in 2018, and Mr Hartnett did not respond to a letter from him either – although he did charge Gwendoline for reading it, and charged her for reading subsequent letters from the assessor, the judgement said.

After the assessor granted an extension and gave another deadline for Mr Hartnett to respond, he eventually did, requesting another extension of time.

Beau Hartnett (inset) has been ordered to pay more than $311,000.

Mr Hartnett never wrote to the costs assessor again. “Instead, he continued to record time and to invoice”, the judgement said, and “never assisted Gwendoline” in the cost assessment process.

Mr Hartnett continued to issue invoices to Gwendoline even after she died on May 31, 2018.

In July 2020, almost five years after the property was sold, Mr Bell took legal action demanding more than $280,000 from Mr Hartnett, describing the fees he had taken from the sale proceeds as “extortionate”.

Justice Elisabeth Peden found it appropriate to order the solicitor to “pay the amount of exorbitantly-charged costs to a person who bore those costs”.

Justice Peden gave specific examples of overcharging by Mr Hartnett, including one where $36,201 was charged to file a statement of claim – it was 27 times more than the $1321 allowed by regulation.

Justice Peden found Mr Bell was only obliged to pay $37,345 towards Gwendoline’s legal costs, and 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.