A High Court judge has urged the parties in the Web Summit case to settle their dispute before proceeding further.
One of the three parties in the case, shareholder and former director Daire Hickey was due to take the witness stand this morning. However before the case began, Mr Justice Michael Twomey said he wanted to say a few words after which the case was adjourned until this afternoon.
Judge Twomey said while opening statements had been heard in the case last week and the court heard the opinions of lawyers where "one was saying black and the other was saying white", the case was only really beginning today with the hearing of factual evidence.
The judge said this was "an opportune time for me to say a few words directly to the parties". He said if it was a typical corporate dispute he would not be commenting but it was a "very personal dispute involving only three shareholders" and would take a much greater toll on the parties.
He said every effort should be made to find a resolution to the case "not just today but every day before it is too late". He said the case was due to go on until 18 June and those were three months the parties "would never get back".
He quoted Judge Gerard Hogan who said mitigation was "a thousand times better than litigation" and said it was vividly illustrated in this case due to its projected length.
The judge said the parties will spend a full three months of their lives focused on the negative aspects of their business and this was "only the start". He said a judgment in the case would not be ready until later this year and if the case were to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court it could be 2028 before it is finalised.
He said if any of the parties think the toll it might take would be worth it if they won he urged them to consider the words of Voltaire who said: "I was never ruined but twice: once when I lost a lawsuit and once when I one."
He said one party making an offer of a settlement was not a sign of weakness but a sign of a sophisticated and intelligent business person.
After a break of a few minutes senior counsel Bernard Dunleavy asked the court to adjourn the case until just before lunch and said all the parties had taken on board what he had said and would require a little more time.
Paddy Cosgrave is suing former Web Summit director David Kelly who holds a 12 per cent stake in the business for alleged breaches of duties as a director. He is seeking damages for losses he says relate to Mr Kelly's role in the establishment of a venture capital fund separate from Web Summit.
Mr Kelly and former director Daire Hickey, who has seven per cent shareholding, are suing Mr Cosgrave alleging shareholder oppression and breach of a profit share agreement.
The Web Summit case has now been adjourned until tomorrow after senior counsel Bernard Durkan told the court the parties "had a level of engagement which has been positive and we made some progress."
He asked the judge to give them until tomorrow to continue talks.
Judge Twomey adjourned the case until tomorrow morning.
