The High Court will hear evidence spanning from 2010 to the present day when the trial of various cases involving Web Summit gets under way next spring, a judge has been told.
The five actions will be “extremely evidence-heavy”, while arguments about legal principles will be more limited, said Kelley Smith, senior counsel for Daire Hickey, a 7 per cent shareholder in the tech events firm.
Ms Smith said there was a “long history” between the three Web Summit co-founders – chief executive Paddy Cosgrave, her client and David Kelly, who owns a 12 per cent stake in the firm – whose business story dates back to 2010 but whose friendships were formed even earlier.
[ Web Summit reports €5.6m loss before tax for 2023 as turnover jumps 14%Opens in new window ]
She said her client’s complaints alleging minority shareholder oppression by Web Summit and Mr Cosgrave, who owns an 81 per cent share, relate to matters “right up to the present day”.
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Ms Smith, instructed by Dentons solicitors, made the submissions in trying to persuade the High Court’s Mr Justice Michael Twomey to arrange for Mr Hickey’s and Mr Kelly’s separate shareholder oppression claims to be heard ahead of a case by Web Summit and Mr Cosgrave alleging Mr Kelly breached his fiduciary duties as a director of the company.
Mr Justice Twomey is managing the cases ahead of their nine-week trial beginning on March 18th.
Ms Smith submitted it does not make sense for the court to hear Mr Cosgrave’s case first, as it focuses on the year 2021, so the court would be hearing “part of the end of the story first”.
“To understand the relationship of all of the parties and the context, it seems to us that surely the court needs to understand the timeline from when it starts, and that is from 2010 in terms of the business relationship,” she said. Mr Cosgrave’s case could be dealt with at the end of the trial, she submitted.
The court heard the parties have agreed the hearing should begin with an outline of all five of the cases. All of the allegations in each of the actions are vigorously denied.
Senior counsel for Web Summit and Mr Cosgrave, Bernard Dunleavy, asked the court to hear his clients’ case before the other four, as it was the first to be initiated.
“We started first, we have been waiting to get on and we should be entitled to get our case on first,” he said.
Mr Dunleavy, instructed by Clark Hill law firm, said his clients’ case is the only one that could conclude neatly ahead of the Easter break. He submitted it would be “undesirable” to have a significant break in the evidence while hearing the others.
[ Web Summit 2024: A new version of Paddy Cosgrave keeps it light on opening nightOpens in new window ]
Mr Kelly’s senior counsel, Michael Cush, contended that Mr Dunleavy was trying to run his defence to the minority shareholders’ claims ahead of those cases being heard, which would be “completely unfair and wholly wrong”. Mr Dunleavy disputed he was attempting this.
Mr Cush, instructed by Dillon Eustace solicitors, said the court should first hear Mr Kelly’s and Mr Hickey’s cases.
As well as their separate minority shareholder oppression claims, Mr Kelly and Mr Hickey have also each brought a case against Mr Cosgrave and Web Summit alleging a breach of a profit share agreement.
Mr Justice Twomey said he would decide on the running order on Wednesday.
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