Latest news with #JamesMcNally
BBC News
17-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Small claims court backlog in Somerset reaches record high
The wait for a small claims hearing in Somerset has reached record levels, new figures data from the Ministry of Justice show the average wait time for a small claims case to be heard at Taunton County Court in the three months to March was one year and 21 solicitor James McNally told BBC Radio Somerset: "The backlog is huge. The small claims court limit has been increased from £5k to £10k but there's also been a huge number of courts across the UK that have closed and a lot of court staff have been made redundant."The Ministry of Justice said they are recruiting almost 1,000 new judges and tribunal members to help the backlog. Mr McNally said: "Small claims court are there to resolve disputes but I don't think people have the money to settle claims the way they used too."It's not just small claims, it's all type of claims. It used to be, if you had a dispute, the court would step in, and within 12 months you'd be in front of a judge."You could be looking at two or three years before getting to court and it just means claims are progressing and the backlog is growing," he Association of Personal Injury Lawyers said people in need of justice are facing "unacceptable delays" for their day in court. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Around 97% of county court claims are resolved without the need for a trial but we are taking action to ensure those that do are dealt with quickly."We are investing in the recruitment of about 1,000 judges and tribunal members this year across all courts and tribunals, have funded 74,300 sitting days in the Civil Courts for 2025/26 and are holding more remote hearings."
Irish Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Landowner and architect in court dispute over plan for whiskey distillery in north Dublin
A landowner and an architect are in dispute over plans that were drawn up for a whiskey distillery on a site in north Co Dublin, the Commercial Court heard. James McNally, of Naul, Co Dublin, is the owner of the site in Stephenstown, Balbriggan, which he says he got as an inheritance. He says he has entered into an agreement to sell it to Wyoming, US-registered Harvest Lodge Distilleries LLC. But, he says, the deal has been stalled because the architect who prepared the drawings and planning application for the distillery, Andrew Cassidy trading as Cassidy Consultants, is claiming to have an interest in the lands. READ MORE This arose, Mr McNally says in an affidavit, out of a 2018 agreement between Mr Cassidy and Harvest Lodge to provide architectural services in relation to a planning application for the whiskey distillery and business campus on the property. Mr McNally says Harvest Lodge paid Mr Cassidy a total of some €650,000. Planning permission was granted in February 2023 with Mr McNally having to provide a letter of consent for planners to say he was the owner of the land. Last March, he says, he reached agreement in principle with Harvest Lodge to sell the property for €11 million with a closing date of this month (May). In April, Mr Cassidy's solicitor asserted an interest in the property on behalf of Mr Cassidy, it was claimed. A fee for his services of €900,000 was claimed along with a claim that a valuation would have to carried out on Mr Cassidy's intellectual property rights in relation to the drawings he prepared for the planning application. On Monday, the Commercial Court heard that the defendant was asserting that he had a 5 per cent entitlement to the value of the development based on his intellectual property rights. Mr McNally denies there is any such right. Mr Justice Mark Sanfey adjourned an application to have the case entered into the fast track commercial list for a week to allow the defendant file an affidavit in response to the entry application. Mr McNally is asking the court for a declaration that the defendant has no legal or equitable interest in the property so that he can proceed with the sale to Harvest Lodge.
