Leech agrees to pay lawyers after ‘relationship breakdown’

Communications consultant Monica Leech has agreed to pay fees due to lawyers who brought libel actions on her behalf, after a judge was told there had been a breakdown in the relationship between her and her legal team over the fees and advice.

McCann FitzGerald, the solicitors who represented her in the actions, including one in June 2009 when she was awarded €1.87m in libel damages over a series of Evening Herald articles in 2004, were yesterday given the court’s permission not to represent her anymore, or “come off record”, as it is known in legal circles.

This was because of an irretrievable breakdown in the relationship between her and the solicitors, said David Holland, for McCann FitzGerald.

Ms Leech said she had the money to pay the fees but she felt the solicitors were more interested in the fees than the outcome of the case — a claim strongly denied by McCann FitzGerald.

Mr Holland said the suggestion that she had the funds to pay was “a novelty” and contrary to what she had told the solicitors.

The court heard that the firm had represented her in three libel actions against the Independent Newspaper group.

Mr Holland said there had been a breakdown in the relationship which was also over fees but primarily related to Ms Leech’s willingness to accept the advice of her legal advisers.

As a result, she retained other solicitors, who performed services on her behalf but did not come “on record” for her, he said.

Mr Holland said his clients were concerned that, apart from repeatedly saying she was unable to pay the fees, Ms Leech had refused to give a specific undertaking which would have secured the payment.

Ms Leech told High Court president Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns she was prepared to give such an undertaking.

The judge ordered that she be furnished with a bill of costs from McCann FitzGerald and that files on her cases had been handed over to her or her new lawyers. She would pay the fees for the various sets of proceedings and that they would be taxed in default of agreement.

The judge agreed to allow McCann FitzGerald to come off record.

Mr Justice Kearns reminded Ms Leech that failure to abide with her undertaking could have consequences, including an application to have her held in contempt of court.