By Daniel Keane
The Court of Appeal has ordered Finbar Tolan to pay the costs incurred by his former solicitors in successfully defending his appeal in a professional negligence case.
Tolan had sued John Brady and John Dillon-Leetch, trading as Dillon Leetch and Comerford Solicitors, over their handling of an earlier unsuccessful action against Connaught Gold Cooperative Society. His claim against the solicitors was dismissed by the High Court in February 2025. The Court of Appeal then dismissed his appeal on March 26th, 2026.
The appeal court had indicated that its preliminary view was that the respondents, having been entirely successful, should receive their costs. Tolan was allowed to make submissions seeking a different order.
He accepted that section 169 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 generally provides that costs follow the event, meaning the losing party normally pays the successful party's costs. He argued, however, that special circumstances made an immediate costs order unjust.
Mr Justice Binchy said no such special circumstances had been identified.
Tolan referred to alleged fraud and perjury and said he intended to seek a review of the appeal judgment under Practice Direction CA14. The court noted that he had not actually advanced that application or provided the affidavit on which he said it would be based. A related request to stay the costs order pending such a review therefore also fell away.
The court rejected his claim that the proceedings raised public-interest issues, finding that they concerned matters personal to him and the legal services provided by his former solicitors. It also rejected his request for a protective costs order, a mechanism used in limited circumstances to shield a party from ordinary costs exposure.
The court concluded that the respondents had been entirely successful and that no statutory or other reason justified departing from the normal costs rule.
Tolan was ordered to pay the respondents' appeal costs, to be adjudicated if the parties cannot agree the amount.