Legal fees may exceed $1m each
By Jennani Durai
THE court case involving six key members of City Harvest Church is shaping up to be one of the most costly in recent history, with each accused likely to foot a $1 million bill for top legal help.
Five of the six accused have hired Senior Counsels while senior pastor Kong Hee is represented by Mr Edwin Tong, who is also a Member of Parliament for Moulmein-Kallang GRC.
There are 41 Senior Counsels - the local equivalent of British Queen's Counsels, who are regarded as the elite in the profession - here.
A Senior Counsel, who declined to be named, said most lawyers of this stature charge between $1,000 and $1,300 an hour.
This means that 10 days in court could incur fees from half a million to a million dollars.
While clients may ask for a fee cap, he added that most lawyers would be reluctant to give one as they do not know how much work will go into the case.
Another senior lawyer said: 'If complex issues or a lot of documents are involved - as I presume they are in this case - the cost could even be twice as much.'
Criminal lawyer Josephus Tan said rates could differ depending on lawyer and law firm.
'In big-firm culture, more often than not, it's an hourly billing system, but this may or may not apply to criminal cases, which are usually priced on a lump-sum basis.'
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