Practice Area » Litigation

Litigation

Litigation involves the institution of court proceeding on behalf of a Plaintiff against a Defendant for the infringement of their rights. Generally, damages are sought for that breach. We operate a hierarchy of courts in Ireland, with each court having a financial limit.

District Court €1.00 to €6,348.00
Circuit Court €6,349.00 to €38,092.00
High Court €38,093.00 upwards

Most people, except perhaps for the purpose of making a Will or buying or selling property, get through life without recourse to the services of a Solicitor. The most common reason for consulting a Solicitor is a car accident. Apart from your house, the most valuable asset which is liable to be damaged is your car.


  Topics covered include:-


Involvement in an Accident

The following are steps that should be taken if you are involved in a car accident:-

  1. At the scene, if there are any personal injuries, the Gardai must be notified and you must remain at the scene. If you fail or refuse to report an accident in which personal injuries have occurred, you are liable to prosecution. Even where there are no personal injuries, you should in any event report the matter to the Gardai.
  2. If it is feasible, the vehicles should not be moved prior to the Gardai arriving. If they have to be moved because they are causing an obstruction, there locations should be marked and, if possible, photographed. The greatest bone of contention in any Court Hearing involving a car accident, is the location of the vehicles immediately after the accident.
  3. You must give an address and insurance details to the other party and the other party must give similar details to you. This is a statutory obligation under the Road Traffic Act.
  4. If possible, a point of impact should be agreed in the presence of a Guard or an independent witness.
  5. An admission of responsibility should not be made. It is a condition of your insurance cover that no liability be accepted for the accident as this is a matter for your Insurance Company. Even where an admission of liability is made at the scene, a Judge can and does take in to account the fact that the person may have made that statement under duress and stress.

Top of page


Liability

  1. If it is clear that the other party is entirely responsible for the accident, then the only outstanding matter is the question of the measure of the damage incurred. However, a Judge may hold that one or other of the parties may not be entirely responsible for the accident and may apportion liability for it between the two drivers. This can be anything from 50%/50% where each party recovers 50% of their losses up to 90%/10% and so on.
  2. Where there is some question on liability, it may be necessary to have the scene of the accident examined by an Engineer who will produce a map of the location and photographs. This is to assist the Judge in rendering a decision on liability.

Top of page


Damages

Liability having been decided, the issue of the amount of damages arises. Typically, the following headings on damage arise:-

  1. Repairs.
    The car should be brought to a reputable garage who will prepare an estimate of the repair for the damage. The Insurer for the other driver will normally commission a Motor Assessor to view the vehicle and the damage and to agree whether the estimate provided by the garage is reasonable. If there is a dispute as to the reasonableness of the repair bill, then one should consider commissioning ones own Motor Assessor.

  2. Depreciation.
    Generally for cars up to five years old, the Insurers will allow depreciation at the rate of 10% of the repair cost of the car. With a current year registered car the Insurers, in certain circumstances, will allow up to 20%.

  3. Car Hire/Loss of Use.
    Typically, an Insurer will allow up to two weeks car hire to allow for the repair of the car or, in certain circumstances, its replacement. Strictly speaking, the car hire is only for the period of time it takes to have the garage carry out the repairs.

    With older cars a particular problem arises. With the high cost of repairs, frequently Insurers deem older cars not economic to repair. The decision is entirely economic. Every second hand car has a book value. The Insurers value the car prior to the accident. The crashed car has a residual value called a scrap value. The Insurers have the option of discharging either the net loss, being the pre accident value less the scrap value, or the repair bill, whichever is the cheaper.

    In such circumstances, one is only entitled to recover the net loss of the car and car hire for the period of time it takes to organise a new car. This period again should not exceed ten to fourteen days.

Top of page


Serious Accidents

The above only envisages a minor car accident with only material damage. If serious personal injuries are suffered whether in a car accident or an accident at work or in an accidental fall, you should seek legal advice with regard to taking a Personal Injury Claim.

The procedure involved is entirely dependent on the seriousness of the injuries. In advising a claimant, a Solicitor assesses damages under two broad classifications:-

  1. Special Damages (Out of Pocket Expenses)
    Which are in turn divided into two categories - past damages and future damages.
  1. Past Special Damages.
    Losses that have actually been incurred at the time the case goes to trial - loss of income up to the date of the trial, hospital expenses, etc., Doctor’s Bills, medication, car damage, etc.

  2. Future Special Damages.
    Generally these only arise in a serious accident, as it is envisaged that the Plaintiff will incur future out of pocket expenses. Typically these are the cost of future operations. Loss of future income can also arise. If the Plaintiff has not returned to work at all, then obviously loss of income will continue until he does return to work. Alternatively, the Plaintiff may not have been able to return to his pre accident work. He may be on a lesser salary and therefore there will be a differential.
  1. General Damages.
    The legal system tries to put the Plaintiff back in the position he or she was in prior to the accident. As they can not do so if someone has suffered personal injuries, they try to compensate them for the injury suffered by putting some value on the pain and suffering. This is also divided into past and future damages.
  1. Past Damages.
    The Court assesses the injury suffered by the Plaintiff and if he has recovered in full, puts a fixed value on the injury.

  2. Future General Damages.
    If the Plaintiff is not, at the date of the hearing of the case, recovered in full, the Court assesses whether or not the injury is permanent. If these is a likelihood of recovery how long it will take to recover in full and attributes a value to this.

Top of page


Glossary of Litigation Terminology


Buying & Selling Property Business & Commercial Landlord & Tenant Probate & Administration
PIAB Debt Collection Family Law Wills Glossary