Killian Flood BL

For the first time ever, cases have been listed for hearing during the Long Vacation. Described as a pilot project, the government has demanded longer court sittings in exchange for additional judicial resources. Killian Flood explains why the move is yet another careless decision taken by the gover

In May 2022, the Department of Justice outlined a plan to implement reforms to civil procedures in the courts. In June 2024, with just a year left for the current government, lawyers are still waiting for the reforms to be legislated, writes Killian Flood. In May 2022, the Department of Justice publ

Reform in personal injuries law has been a focus of government and the insurance sector in recent years. Killian Flood examines how one Supreme Court judge recently signalled a willingness to consider reforming the standard of care in certain cases. Last week, the Supreme Court delivered the much-an

Generative AI is a hot topic in legal circles, with some companies boasting that their AI can replace lawyers. Killian Flood examines how AI might shape the professions in the coming years.

With recent commentary from High Court judges past and present, the issue of legal costs in Ireland has arisen once again. Killian Flood writes on the issue of legal costs from a barrister’s perspective.

In the wake of the Dublin riots, it has been interesting to observe the political responses to the scenes of violence and disorder which befell our nation’s capital. The government has been in damage control while the opposition have been circling like sharks. Everyone knows that the riots ha

In my previous life as case reporter for ILN, I had to digest some long judgments. The first decision in the landmark Covid-19 business interruption claims ran to 214 pages. The judgment in Facebook’s judicial review to the DPC’s own volition inquiry came out to 197 pages. And don’

When I was called to the Bar, my godfather congratulated me on my new life of “dignified poverty”. Had I known just how apt this description was, I may not have laughed so loudly.

On 8 September, Mr Justice Mark Heslin committed Enoch Burke to prison for his failure to comply with a court order restraining him from trespassing at Wilson’s Hospital School. Although Mr Burke had been ordered to stay away from his former place of work since September 2022, a permanent inj

The Court of Appeal has determined that the a party which is “entirely successful” in proceedings was not required to show that it had conducted litigation in the most cost-effective manner before being entitled to its full costs. The High Court had determined that the Minister for Publi

The High Court has refused an application by a plaintiff to strike out certain aspects of a defendant’s affidavit on the grounds that it exhibited without prejudice correspondence. The parties had previously engaged with a view to resolving a contractual dispute in advance of litigation and th

The High Court has ruled that debtors seeking to dismiss a bankruptcy summons in advance of trial must take the appropriate steps within the prescribed 14-day period pursuant to section 8(5) of the Bankruptcy Acts 1988 to 2015. In so ruling, the court determined that there was no jurisdiction to ext

The High Court has ruled that successful plaintiffs in a circuit appeal were entitled to the full legal costs of the hearing and rejected taking an “overly meticulous approach” to legal costs. The defendants had argued that the plaintiffs were not entitled to their legal costs because th

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Jonathan Dowdall against the four-year sentence handed down to him for his involvement in the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel. The court held that the sentence was “very lenient” and was within the available range open to the Spec

The High Court has refused to place a stay on a costs order obtained against litigants who had brought proceedings alleging that the Covid vaccine was a plan by Bill Gates to depopulate the Earth. The State successfully opposed a motion brought by the litigants for a protective costs order on the ba