The High Court has agreed to push back a hearing dealing with liability for legal costs in the civil case brought by Nikita Hand against mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor and his friend James Lawrence.
Ms Hand sought damages for assault – this being rape – against both men. Last week, a jury found she had been assaulted by Mr McGregor but not by Mr Lawrence. The jury awarded damages of €248,603 against Mr McGregor.
Typically, the losing side pays their own legal costs and those of the successful party. On that basis, Mr McGregor would be responsible for Ms Hand’s costs, while she would have to pay Mr Lawrence’s costs and some of her own.
The court has a discretion to depart from this general rule if persuaded that the justice of the case requires this and there are special circumstances.
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The issue of legal cost liability was due to be considered by Mr Justice Alexander Owens this Thursday. However, barrister Siún Leonowics, instructed by Coleman Legal, on Wednesday asked him to delay the costs hearing by one week to Thursday, December 5th.
Ms Leonowics said Ms Hand’s legal team wants time to deliver “very brief” written submissions on the costs issue. Also, her two senior counsel, John Gordan and Ray Boland, overlooked that they have other diary commitments this Thursday, she said.
Mr McGregor’s barrister, Remi Farrell SC, told the court he was resisting the application to delay the hearing. “We are eager to get on with it,” he said.
Mr Justice Owens said he could not understand why Ms Hand’s senior counsels were not present. However, he agreed to move the costs hearing to next Thursday.
Mr Lawrence’s senior counsel, John Fitzgerald, asked that any written submissions from Ms Hand’s lawyers would be delivered to him and Mr Farrell by Tuesday.
Legal sources have estimated that the legal costs in the case, where each of the parties was represented by senior and junior counsel, will be in the region of €1.5 million.
During the trial, Mr McGregor said he was paying his friend’s legal costs.
Ms Hand alleged in her civil action for damages that she was raped by Mr McGregor in the Beacon hotel on December 9th, 2018.
The 35-year-old mother of one said he “would not take no for an answer”. Mr McGregor denied her claim, telling the jury they had “athletic”, “fully-consensual sex”.
He has said he will be appealing the jury’s verdict.
The jury found James Lawrence (35), of Rafter’s Road, Drimnagh, had not assaulted Ms Hand through allegedly having sex with her without her consent in the Beacon hotel.
Mr Lawrence had said in his evidence they had consensual sex twice. Ms Hand said she had no memory of that and described it as “a made-up story”. During cross-examination, he denied he was a “fall-guy” in relation to the allegation Mr McGregor raped Ms Hand.
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