The High Court has refused an application to set aside an arbitration award requiring a solicitor to pay his former business partner €153,038.86, plus the costs of the arbitration.
The applicant, Ruairi O’Cathain, sought to have the interim award made by arbitrator Frank Nyhan on 13 January 2012 set aside or sent back for reconsideration. He argued that he could not prepare his defence and counterclaim because he had not received full access to the partnership’s accounts and financial records.
The dispute arose from a solicitor partnership between the applicant and his uncle, Diarmuid O’Cathain. The High Court had referred the dispute to arbitration in 2010 with both parties’ consent. The arbitrator held a hearing on 25 November 2011 after the applicant sought an adjournment. The applicant left during the hearing, and it continued in his absence.
In the High Court, the applicant also challenged the arbitrator’s appointment of accountant Connor Pyne to examine the partnership accounts, arguing that the appointment lacked consent and was unfair. The respondent said records had been made available and that the applicant had delayed providing his own submissions.
Justice Hedigan said the correspondence showed the respondent had gone to considerable lengths to provide documents, and that the applicant had been offered a backup disc of the accounts. The judge found the applicant had been given a reasonable opportunity to prepare his case and rejected his complaint that he lacked necessary information.
The court also rejected the challenge to the accountant’s appointment. It held that Article 26 of the UNCITRAL Model Law allowed an arbitral tribunal to appoint an expert unless the parties had agreed otherwise; the judgment records no such agreement in this case.
On the hearing continuing in the applicant’s absence, the judge concluded the arbitrator was entitled to proceed after the applicant left. The High Court found no ground to set aside the award and refused the relief sought. The award therefore remained in place.