The High Court has ordered three solicitors practising as Malcomson Law and Philip Morrissey to pay, on a joint and several basis, the costs of an earlier application brought by Allied Irish Banks and Everyday Finance. The court stayed enforcement against the three Malcomson Law defendants until the remaining proceedings against them are determined, but refused Morrissey’s request for a stay.
President of the High Court Mr Justice David Barniville delivered the costs judgment on 7 June 2024. It followed his April 2023 decision on an application concerning a settlement agreement. The court had granted the relief sought in that application, including substituting Everyday Finance as plaintiff and making orders concerning an equitable mortgage, well charging orders and receivers with power to sell relevant property. The costs judgment did not decide the remaining proceedings against the Malcomson Law defendants, which are still to be tried.
The judge found that Everyday Finance and AIB had been entirely successful in the application and were entitled to their costs. He rejected the Malcomson Law defendants’ request to be treated separately from Morrissey or to have costs divided between them. He said both sides of the defence had opposed the orders and that the Malcomson Law defendants had actively contested the application, including before Morrissey later opposed it and sought to withdraw his consent to the settlement-related orders.
The judge said dividing responsibility for costs would not be fair or appropriate in this application. The costs order is joint and several, meaning the successful party may seek the full amount from any one of those liable. The judgment said the final order should confirm that costs are in favour of Everyday Finance.
Morrissey sought a stay pending his appeal. The judge refused it because the Court of Appeal had already dismissed that appeal in March 2024. The Malcomson Law defendants also sought a stay, arguing the costs position could change after their trial, including if they successfully defended the remaining case. The judge granted their request, finding that a stay on enforcement best balanced the parties’ interests while the trial remained outstanding.
The stay is limited: Everyday Finance may have the costs assessed by a legal costs adjudicator, but cannot enforce payment from the Malcomson Law defendants while the remaining High Court proceedings are pending. The judgment said the costs order may be enforced against Morrissey. The court listed the matter for final orders on 19 June 2024; this judgment records the costs decision and does not itself state that those final orders were made.