The High Court has allowed Artem Lobov to change the pleaded date of his alleged oral agreement with Conor McGregor concerning a 5% share of proceeds from the sale of Proper No. 12 whiskey, but has imposed a substantial costs consequence for the late change.
Ms Justice Nessa Cahill granted Lobov permission to amend his case from alleging that the agreement was made in September 2017 to saying it occurred during the week beginning October 9, 2017 at the SBG gym on the Naas Road.
Lobov's substantive claim is that McGregor promised him 5% of the proceeds of the whiskey deal and that the agreement was confirmed by a handshake. McGregor denies that any such agreement existed. The court made no finding on which account is correct.
The case had been listed for an eight-day trial beginning May 20, 2025. On May 15, after the case had been called on for hearing, Lobov's solicitor notified McGregor's side that the pleaded month would change. The trial date was then vacated.
Lobov said he discovered information on an old damaged phone in February 2025 which caused him to reconsider the timing. He told his solicitor on March 18, but McGregor's lawyers were not informed until May 15.
The judge held that the amendment was necessary to allow the real issues between the parties to be determined and that any prejudice to McGregor could be addressed through costs and case management. She found no basis, on the affidavit evidence, to conclude that the delay had been deliberate or tactical.
However, the court accepted that McGregor's legal team had spent considerable avoidable time preparing a factual defence based on the September 2017 date.
Lobov was therefore made liable for 75% of McGregor's trial-preparation costs from March 18, 2025 through the first day of the scheduled hearing, plus the costs of any amended defence. That costs order was stayed pending the wider proceedings.