The Court of Appeal has ruled that James Lawrence should not recover his legal costs from Nikita Ní Laimhín, despite a jury finding that he did not sexually assault her.
Ms Ní Laimhín, also referred to in the judgment as Ms Hand, sued both Conor McGregor and Mr Lawrence over alleged sexual assaults arising from events at the Beacon Hotel on 9 December 2018. She said she had no memory of sexual activity with Mr Lawrence. His defence nevertheless pleaded that they had consensual sex twice.
At the November 2024 trial, the jury found that Mr McGregor had assaulted Ms Hand but answered “No” when asked whether Mr Lawrence had assaulted her.
Mr Lawrence then sought his costs. The High Court refused them, interpreting the verdict as meaning the jury believed no sexual activity had occurred between him and Ms Hand. The Court of Appeal found that interpretation was not justified because the verdict was equally consistent with either no sex having occurred or consensual sex having occurred.
That error did not, however, change the ultimate costs result.
Mr Justice Brian O’Moore held that Mr Lawrence’s evidence supporting Mr McGregor’s account had necessarily been rejected by the jury when it found that Mr McGregor sexually assaulted Ms Hand. Mr Lawrence had testified that he was close enough to observe events, that Ms Hand appeared to be having consensual sex and that he would not have tolerated violence against her. The Court of Appeal said this evidence had to be regarded as untruthful given the jury’s finding against Mr McGregor.
A separate factor was that Mr McGregor had paid all of Mr Lawrence’s legal costs. The court said an award was intended to compensate a successful litigant for expense incurred, not create a windfall or indirectly reimburse Mr McGregor.
The appeal was therefore dismissed. Each side must bear its own costs of Ms Hand’s claim against Mr Lawrence.