The Honourable Garech Browne has asked the High Court to order his former solicitors to give him the original files regarding the sale of Woodtown Manor at Rathfarnham, Co Dublin.
Mr Browne, of Luggala, Roundwood, Co Wicklow, is taking the action against Mr William J. McGuire, Mr Patrick D. Rowan, Mr Gerard H. Walsh, Mr Patrick A. Kelly, Mr Peter Sylvester and Mr John V. Nolan, practising under the name of McKeever Rowan Solicitors, Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin.
Mr Adrian Hardiman SC, for Mr Browne, told Ms Justice Carroll yesterday that the defendants were the company of solicitors engaged by his client in connection with the sale of the Rathfarnham property in 1996.
The sale subsequently became enmeshed in legal difficulties, counsel said. An action for specific performance against his client was pending.
In 1998 Mr Browne decided to change his solicitors. Despite numerous requests in correspondence, he did not receive the full file in relation to Woodtown Manor. While some documents had been released piecemeal, it was their belief that a considerable amount of documentation was still outstanding, counsel said.
Ms Kathryn Ward, solicitor, of Finbar Cahill and Company, said in an affidavit she had been unable to obtain from McKeever Rowan the original file which was required to comply with orders for discovery against her client, Mr Garech Browne, in connection with legal proceedings regarding the sale of Woodtown.
Mr Robert Browne, solicitor, of McKeever Rowan, said in another affidavit that all original papers, files, correspondence, title deeds, maps etc within the possession or procurement of his employers in proceedings relating to Mr Browne had been handed over to the latter's solicitors.
Mr Browne told the court that, although he had sworn affidavits on behalf of McKeever Rowan, all his evidence in relation to anything that might have occurred before October 1998 was hearsay.
Ms Justice Carroll adjourned the matter to Wednesday next and directed that Mr William J. McGuire, senior partner in McKeever Rowan, make himself available for cross-examination.