The Court of Appeal has directed that there be no order as to the costs of an appeal over damages awarded to Kevin Meehan, while leaving in place an earlier costs order in his favour.
In a costs ruling delivered on 3 November 2022, Mr Justice Noonan said the plaintiff had obtained an award exceeding all prior offers made by the defendants. However, he had made no counter-offer that could have protected his position on the appeal costs.
The appeal was limited to the amount of general damages awarded by the High Court. In June 2021, the High Court awarded €508,649, including general and special damages. General damages accounted for €375,000. In its principal judgment on 8 September 2022, the Court of Appeal reduced that component to €250,000, leaving a net award of €383,649.
The appeal was first heard on 24 March 2022, when it was adjourned with an order for costs thrown away in the plaintiff’s favour. It returned on 15 July. The defendants had offered €351,501 the previous day, but the plaintiff rejected it. The plaintiff made no counter-offer after the notice of appeal was filed. Both sides later sought the costs of the appeal in written submissions.
The defendants argued that they had succeeded because the appeal reduced the High Court’s damages award. The plaintiff argued that he had succeeded because the final award exceeded the defendants’ prior offers.
In reaching his decision, Noonan J. applied reasoning from an earlier Court of Appeal costs ruling, Higgins v The Irish Aviation Authority. That ruling considered the importance of settlement offers when allocating costs in an appeal limited to the amount of damages. Noonan J. said the same considerations applied here: although the plaintiff’s final award exceeded the defendants’ offers, he had not made a counter-offer that could have supported a claim for his appeal costs.
The costs order applies to the appeal. It is without prejudice to the costs order already made in the plaintiff’s favour, including an order for costs thrown away when the appeal was adjourned. The court’s ruling records that Justices Faherty and Binchy agreed with Noonan J.