Courts

President of Law Society and husband appoint independent solicitors in €50,000 defamation case

Alleged defamation claimed to have occurred 14 years ago

Three-day hearing of the trial is now likely to be put back to next year. Photograph: Aidan Crawley

Ray Managh
Fri Jul 28 2023 - 13:19

Solicitor and President of the Law Society, Maura Derivan, and her husband, Patrick, have agreed to appoint an independent firm of solicitors to defend them in a €50,000 defamation claim taken by a Co Tipperary accountant.

The alleged defamation is claimed to have occurred 14 years ago and a three-day hearing of the trial, currently set for November 1st in the Circuit Civil Court, is now likely to be put back to next year.

Judge John O’Connor has, in the past, been told that the Derivans had been attempting to frustrate the hearing of the claim, an allegation by accountant Bobby Fitzgerald’s legal team which was strongly denied in court on behalf of the Law Society president and her husband.

The couple practise as Derivan Sexton and Co, Solicitors, New Street, Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, and are being sued by Fitzgerald, chartered accountant and head partner of Fitzgerald Fleming Long Accountants, Cregg, Carrick-on-Suir. Until now, they have been legally represented by their own company.

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The case, which was moved out of the South Eastern Circuit to Dublin on the application of the Derivans, arises from alleged defamatory statements in written correspondence by Derivan Sexton and Co in matters relating to one of their clients, plasterer Bernard Brophy, of Owning, Piltown, Co Kilkenny, who was joined as a defendant and who had been involved in a house purchase with Fitzgerald.

Ms Derivan claims she is unable to be present for the November hearing as she is committed to attending a legal conference in Paris on those day. Fitzgerald claims he has to undergo a surgical procedure in early 2024 and would not be able to handle the stress of a delayed trial for up to three months in the new year.

He offered to facilitate the Derivans by asking the court to bring the trial dates forward to October next but this was unacceptable.

Judge O’Connor, who has consistently urged the parties to try to resolve the dispute, sent both legal teams out for talks, following which he was told the Derivans had agreed to engage independent solicitors to represent them.

He directed that a notice of change of solicitor be filed in court before August 30th and that the new solicitors engage with Fitzgerald’s solicitor, Sharon Delaney of Beauchamps, Dublin, by September 15th at the latest in order to narrow the issues.

Judge O’Connor also directed settlement talks to take place no later than the 2nd week of October and put the case down on the court list for mention on October 18th.

Although the November 1st trial date has been left in place, it is likely that the new independent solicitors would seek to vacate this date to allow them take full instructions from the Derivans about the case.

Niall Brehany, of Sean Ormond Solicitors, Waterford, representing Mr Brophy, told the court his client was trapped as the man in the middle in the case and had been suffering extreme stress because of the delay in getting a hearing. “For him, it has an urgency of its own,” Mr Brehany said.

A full defence, denying all and any issues relating to the alleged defamation against Mr Fitzgerald has already been entered in court on behalf of the Derivans and Mr Brophy by the Derivans’ own legal company.

Ms Derivan was elected president of the Law Society last November and her term of office is due to end on November 11th.

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