The High Court has awarded the former Londis franchisees seven days’ costs in their dispute with ADM Londis plc, while also awarding the company the costs of its summary judgment application and half a day’s costs in the main action. The costs are to be set off against each other.
In a supplementary judgment delivered on 19 December 2014, Mr Justice Gerard Hogan dealt with the remaining claims concerning leased equipment and loss of income, as well as costs. The court had previously found that Londis breached the franchise agreement by the abrupt termination of the franchise and awarded the defendants €464,000 on their counterclaim. It had also entered judgment for Londis for unpaid invoices, including a further €161,283.91 against Ray Dolan and Annaliese McConnell as guarantors. Ranzett Ltd, the company that operated the business, had been dissolved.
The equipment claim concerned refrigeration equipment repossessed by Londis and allegedly sold at “fire sale prices”. The judge had offered the parties an opportunity to provide further evidence about the equipment’s open-market value in 2009 or 2010. The defendants chose not to call further evidence. The judge therefore left his earlier adjudication in place: they had not established a loss and were not entitled to damages for the equipment.
Dolan also sought damages for lost salary. The court had heard that he drew almost €45,000 a year from Ranzett. Hogan said the company was heavily under-capitalised and, without a significant injection of funds, was unlikely to have been able to continue paying that salary. He rejected the claim.
On costs, the judge treated the defendants’ counterclaim as a substantial, independent claim for breach of contract, rather than merely a defence to Londis’s invoice claim. It had taken considerably more time and involved greater legal and factual complexity than the claim for unpaid goods. The defendants succeeded on their principal claim that Londis breached the contract, but lost on some ancillary claims, including the equipment and salary claims.
Hogan awarded the defendants seven days’ costs, reflecting issues that had not succeeded and added to the hearing. Londis received the costs of its summary judgment application and half a day’s costs in the main action. The court directed that the parties’ costs awards be set off. The judgment determined these remaining issues; it did not alter the earlier findings on the invoice debt or the counterclaim award.