SSE Renewables (Ireland) Ltd -v- William and Henry Alexander (Civil Engineering) Ltd [2015] IEHC 786 (11 December 2015)

SSE Renewables (Ireland) Ltd -v- William and Henry Alexander (Civil Engineering) Ltd [2015] IEHC 786 (11 December 2015)

The court refused to order the trial of preliminary issues or a modular trial because facts and law are not sufficiently clear, no discrete legal issue is ready for determination, and such orders would not save time or costs but risk delay and injustice.

Citation
[2015] IEHC 786
Parties
Plaintiff: SSE Renewables (Ireland) Limited; First Defendant: William and Henry Alexander (Civil Engineering) Limited; Second Defendant: AECOM Limited; Third Party: Northstone (N. I.) Limited
Jurisdiction
Ireland
Judgment Date
11 December 2015
Procedural Posture
Commercial / Application for Trial of Preliminary Issues
Outcome
application refused
Legal Topics
Preliminary Issues, Pure Economic Loss, Negligence, Modular Trials
Commercial Law Tort Law Preliminary Issues Pure Economic Loss Negligence Modular Trials

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 3 Authorities cited 1 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 1
Sign in to unlock

Parties

SSE Renewables (Ireland) Limited

Plaintiff

William and Henry Alexander (Civil Engineering) Limited

First Defendant

AECOM Limited

Second Defendant

Northstone (N. I.) Limited

Third Party

Procedural Posture

Commercial / Application for Trial of Preliminary Issues

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether plaintiff's claim for pure economic loss in negligence against second defendant is bound to fail
  2. 2 Whether claim for damages is bound to fail where assumption of responsibility post-dates completion of design works
  3. 3 Whether defendants can be treated as concurrent wrongdoers if tort claims fail

Ratio Decidendi

The court refused to order the trial of preliminary issues or a modular trial because facts and law are not sufficiently clear, no discrete legal issue is ready for determination, and such orders would not save time or costs but risk delay and injustice.

Court Disposition

application refused

Orders

  • Refusal to order trial of preliminary issues
  • Refusal to order modular trial