Lawyers told to write less in developer’s case

A British judge wants lawyers to write less in a case involving Irish property developer Patrick McKillen’s battle for a control of a £1bn (€1.16bn) firm that owns three of London’s top hotels.

Lady Justice Arden said length matters and costs will be reduced if documents are shorter. She said it was “really important” that courts are not “overburdened” with “extensive discursive” written arguments.

“What we are after is quality, not quantity, and small is beautiful,” she told barristers at a Court of Appeal hearing in London.

“It makes it more costly for other people to get legal advice if judgments are longer and advisers have to spend more time reading them.

“They are going to be longer if the skeleton arguments, witness statements, and all the rest of it are longer than they need to be.

“Secondly, if judgments are overlong, that makes it difficult to find out what the law is.

“Thirdly, overlong judgments, as I am sure you know, make English law less competitive when parties or international courts have a choice whether to use English law or not.”

Mr McKillen — who comes from Belfast but is based in Dublin — last year lost the opening round of his legal battle with David and Frederick Barclay.

A High Court judge ruled against Mr McKillen in August following a trial in London.

Mr McKillen’s lawyers are asking three appeal judges to overturn parts of Mr Justice David Richards’s ruling.

Lawyers representing the Barclay brothers are resisting Mr McKillen’s challenge.

Lady Justice Arden, Lord Justice Moore-Bick, and Lord Justice Rimer are analysing arguments from both sides and the hearing is expected to end this week.

Judges have heard that Mr McKillen and the Barclay brothers were investors in Coroin — the company which owns and manages Claridge’s, the Connaught, and the Berkeley hotels.

Mr Justice David Richards had dismissed Mr McKillen’s claims that “company affairs” had been conducted in a “manner unfairly prejudicial to his interests”.