The Court of Appeal (CoA) has ruled that the parties should pay their own legal costs relating to the appeal which centres around damages awarded to a man who was injured after a hotel lift dropped three floors to the ground.
Last September, the CoA reduced Kevin Meehan's compensation from €508,000 to €383,000 after holding that certain aspects of the overall damages awarded to him by the High Court were disproportionate.
In 2021, the High Court made the award to Mr Meehan, who was one of several members of the same extended family who were in a lift at the Killarney Plaza Hotel when it dropped to the concrete basement car park on July 9th, 2011.
Arising out of the serious injuries he sustained in the incident, including fractures to his spine and knees, Mr Meehan, from Celbridge, Co Kildare, had sued the hotel's owners, Shawcove Ltd, with registered offices at Castleisland, Co Kerry.
He also sued companies involved in installing and maintaining lifts, Ellickson Engineering Ltd, in receivership of Kilmurry, Waterford; Kilell Ltd also of Kilmurry, Waterford; Otis Ltd and Otis Elevator Ireland Ltd, both of Naas Road Business Park, Dublin, and lift components manufacturer Daldoss Elevetronic Spa, of Valsugana, Italy.
Liability was conceded in the case in 2019 and the matter was before the Mr Justice Michael Hanna in the High Court for assessment of damages only.
The award was appealed to the CoA on multiple grounds, including the assessment by the High Court of general damages for the pain and suffering Mr Meehan had suffered, and his loss of employment opportunity between the time of the incident in 2011 to the present date.
The CoA, comprised Mr Justice Seamus Noonan, Ms Justice Mary Faherty and Mr Justice Donald Binchy, held that aspects of the award were not proportionate and reduced the award by €120,000.
While Mr Meehan was entitled to compensation for the very serious injuries he sustained, the total award should be reduced to a more appropriate amount of €383,000, the CoA ruled.
Legal costs
In a recently published judgment on the issues of who should pay the legal costs of the appeal, the CoA said it was making no order as to the costs of the appeal, meaning the sides will have to pay their own legal costs relating to that hearing.
Giving the CoA's ruling, Mr Justice Noonan said, on the issue of costs, the defendants had claimed to have "won the appeal" in that they had claimed to have been successful in the only raises, namely that the damages awarded by the High Court were "excessive".
However, the judge noted that Mr Meehan had argued that he had been entirely successful.
By proceeding with the appeal, the plaintiff had obtained an award in excess of any prior offer of compensation made to him by the defendants.
Mr Justice Noonan said the same considerations in this case applied with equal force to findings by the CoA in cases where similar issues regarding costs had been raised.
While the plaintiff "ultimately succeeded in obtaining an award that exceeded all prior offers made by the defendants," the judge said Mr Meehan "made no counteroffer which would have afforded him protection in relation to the costs of the appeal".
"I would therefore direct that there be no order as to the costs of this appeal," Mr Justice Noonan said, meaning both sides will pay their own legal costs relating to the appeal.
The judge said Mr Meehan had been awarded the legal costs of the High Court hearing, adding that position remains unchanged.
Ms Justice Faherty and Mr Justice Binchy concurred with Mr Justice Noonan's findings.
