Tony Lithur
An Accra High Court has dismissed a suit filed by Tony Lithur seeking the payment of some GH¢2,005,320 and interest from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) as money owed to him for legal services he rendered to the state institution.
The court, in its judgement, said Mr. Lithur had failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish his claims against COCOBOD during the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.
This is the second time Mr. Lithur, who has been representing the opposition NDC in many cases, failed to justify his claims for the money.
A Commercial Division of the Accra High Court in 2017 dismissed a suit filed by Lithur Brew and Company demanding a recovery of GH¢2,005,320 being legal fees owed by the Ghana Cocoa Board for being incompetent.
The law firm, Lithur Brew & Co, in August 2017, filed a writ of summons against the COCOBOD demanding the court to recover the said money and interests accrued at the prevailing commercial banks lending rate from February 20, 2017.
Not satisfied, Mr. Lithur filed another suit, this time in his name, and was making the same claims which were dismissed by the court.
He argued that he had an oral agreement to represent COCOBOD in a case in 2014 which he did and was entitled to the payment.
He asked the court, therefore, for the recovery of GH¢2,005,320 being legal fees owed him; the payment of the interest amount which has accrued on the GH¢2,005,320 since the February 20, 2017 to date, as well as any further reliefs which the court deemed fit to be given to him.
In his counter-argument in court, John Clottey-Sefa, the then Director of Legal Services at COCOBOD, said the fees charged by Mr. Lithur were excessive given the quantum of work he did in 2014 for COCOBOD.
The legal fees, Mr. Clottey-Sefa asserted, were premised on the fact that Mr. Lithur was going to conduct the 2014 case from the stage of preparation of pleadings and witness statements, through trial, filing addresses and to final judgement; however, that turned out not to be the case.
Instead, Mr. Lithur assumed control over the conduct of the case when an Entry of Appearance had already been done by COCOBOD’s in-house counsel and a statement of defence had already been prepared.
Also very crucial is the fact that Mr. Lithur had failed to submit a particularized bill to COCOBOD when the legal fees were due for payment.
The court, in its judgement, held that from the totality of the evidence adduced before it, Mr. Lithur had failed to establish or prove his case and went on to dismiss the case.
COCOBOD under the then Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Stephen Opuni, decided to engage external solicitors for the state agency despite the fact that there was an in-house legal department to litigate a matter between COCOBOD and Strategic Security System International Limited.
Mr. Lithur, who represented the then President Mahama in the 2012 disputed election which landed at the Supreme Court, was subsequently engaged to pursue the case despite the in-house legal department advising an out-of-court settlement.
Mr. Lithur’s firm charged the sum of GH¢3,404,800, GH¢10,000 and GH¢575,840 respectively as professional legal fees, out of pocket expenses and VAT charges, bringing the total amount to GH¢4,010,640.
The payment was, however, predicated on Mr. Lithur taking the case through trial to final judgement.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak