The Court of Appeal has dismissed a company’s challenge to an order attaching settlement funds to satisfy a €229,212.55 personal injury award and costs. It held that the High Court judge acted within her discretion in making the garnishee order absolute and refusing to reopen that decision.
The case arose after Philip Keane lost the index finger of his left hand in a workplace accident on 26 October 2017 while employed by Dermot McGann Groundworks Limited. The High Court awarded him €100,000 in general damages and €5,315.69 in special damages. His costs were later adjudicated at €123,896.86, including stamp duty.
The company pursued its insurers and insurance brokers for indemnity. A settlement with the brokers provided for €250,000: €170,000 allocated, at the company’s request, to its legal costs in three sets of proceedings, and €80,000 for Keane, inclusive of his costs. The company’s solicitors offered Keane the €80,000 in full and final settlement. He instead sought a garnishee order over €229,212.55, the total award and adjudicated costs.
On 12 January 2021, the High Court made absolute a conditional order attaching settlement proceeds. The settlement agreement had not been provided to the judge. The company later sought to introduce it and reopen the decision, arguing that the €170,000 was held on a Quistclose trust for legal costs. The High Court refused, finding that the matter had been decided and that the company had not shown sufficient grounds to revisit it.
The Court of Appeal said the company could have sought permission to disclose the agreement or requested an adjournment before the original hearing. It found no good reason to interfere with the judge’s decision to refuse the new evidence and the application to reopen.
The appeal court also considered the trust argument. It concluded that the brokers’ purpose was to settle their proceedings with the company, and that how the company used the settlement funds was a matter of indifference to them. The €170,000 was therefore not subject to the claimed Quistclose trust. A solicitors’ lien was raised for the first time during the appeal; the court declined to decide it because it was not a ground of appeal and had not been considered by the High Court.
The court held that no special circumstances had been raised to oppose the garnishee order, which was within the High Court’s discretion, and dismissed the appeal. It gave a provisional view that the company should pay Keane’s appeal costs, with a short hearing available if either party sought a different order.