The High Court has awarded Chris Gordon the full costs of his defamation action against the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association after a jury awarded him €300,000 in damages. The court made no order on the costs of an earlier trial that was abandoned after the defendant’s legal status was challenged.
In a judgment delivered on 9 September 2020, Mr Justice Bernard Barton ruled on costs following the eight-week trial. The jury had found for Gordon on 25 March 2020. The costs ruling did not reconsider the damages verdict; it addressed which party should bear the costs of the proceedings.
The association argued that costs should be limited to Circuit Court levels, with a further costs order in its favour. It said the plaintiff had prolonged the case by waiting until the end of the evidence to concede that some occasions of publication were privileged. It also relied on issues it had won: the fourth statement was withdrawn from the jury for insufficient evidence, and the jury did not find malice in relation to the seventh statement. The association said Gordon’s account of a meeting at the Keadeen Hotel had changed from the version pleaded, adding to trial costs.
Gordon argued that the association’s members’ limited guarantee did not cap the company’s liability for damages and costs. He also said the case had one central claim: that he had been subjected to a campaign of defamation. The judge accepted that the company’s structure and the members’ guarantee did not limit its legal liability or require the plaintiff to bring the claim in the Circuit Court.
The judge treated the damages action as a single event for costs purposes. Gordon had succeeded in that claim, so the usual rule that costs follow the event applied. The court found that the fourth and seventh statements were not separate events warranting a different costs order, and that it was reasonable to pursue them. It also found Gordon was entitled to await the evidence before conceding qualified privilege and that his overall conduct of the trial, including his case about the hotel meeting, was appropriate.
The earlier trial began on 2 July 2019 but was halted after an objection that the association had been sued as an unincorporated association when it was a company limited by guarantee. The pleadings were amended and the jury discharged. The judge found fault on both sides: the plaintiff had not carried out a company-registration search before issuing the claim, while the defence had not disputed the incorrect description of the defendant. The court therefore made no order as to the aborted trial’s costs.
The final order granted Gordon the costs of the action as heard and made no order on the costs of the mistrial.