O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors were recently asked to assist in a dispute with a building contractor, whom was contracted to carry out work at a development property site.
It was argued that the contractor left the works unfinished and that the works that were finished were also defective.
Court proceedings were issued in the High Court of Northern Ireland, Christina Lishman in the Commercial Litigation team in O’Reilly Stewart was instructed to vigorously defend same, with the clients goals to issue a counterclaim and to have the original action defended on the basis that the works it was contracted to do were property and appropriately completed.
It was argued that the disputed works were outside the scope of the commissioned works and were never contained within the contract. The matter become contentious and voluminous amount of expert evidence regarding the value of the works completed was exchanged between the parties.
It became apparent at an early stage of litigation that the result of the dispute would be a lengthy and costly litigation process. As a result, O’Reilly Stewart proposed the alternative dispute resolution procedure of mediation to settle the issue without the need for trial.
The suggestion was agreed upon by both parties and following a one-day mediation the litigation was resolved, with other side agreeing to pay damages for the counterclaim.