Christina Falls and LIDL Northern Ireland Limited
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | McAlinden J |
| Judgment Date | 08 November 2023 |
| Neutral Citation | [2023] NIKB 115 |
| Court | King's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2023] NIKB 115
Judgment: approved by the court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: McA12314
ICOS No:
Delivered: 08/11/2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
ON APPEAL FROM THE COUNTY COURT OF NORTHERN IRELAND
SITTING AT NEWTOWNARDS
___________
BETWEEN:
CHRISTINA FALLS
Plaintiff/Appellant:
-and-
LIDL NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED
Defendant/Respondent:
___________
Mr Frank O’Donoghue KC with Mr Michael Ward (instructed by JMK Solicitors)
for the Plaintiff/Appellant
Mr Paul McLaughlin KC with Mr Conleth Rooney (instructed by Kennedys Belfast LLP)
for the Defendant/Respondent
___________
McALINDEN J
[1] By civil bill served on 17 February 2021, the plaintiff/appellant claimed
£10,000 damages for personal injuries suffered by her whilst present in the
defendant/respondent’s shop premises in Newtownards on 19 December 2019. The
case came on for hearing on 14 February 2022 and was dismissed on the merits.
Under Order 55 rule 1 of the County Court Rules (NI) 1981 (“the Rules”), the
defendant/respondent is entitled to its costs from the plaintiff/appellant. A bill of
costs dated 30 March 2022 was sent by Kennedys to JMK. This bill of costs claimed
full county court costs for solicitor and counsel on the amount claimed on the civil
bill.
[2] It transpired that the defendant/respondent’s solicitors had entered into a
contentious business agreement with the defendant/respondent, whereby the
solicitors agreed to charge the defendant/respondent less than the scale fee set out in
the Rules for defending the civil bill. In such circumstances, the decision of
Baranowski and another v Rice [2016] NI 155 prevents the defendant/respondent from
claiming full county court scale costs from the plaintiff/appellant. The
defendant/respondent’s solicitors, realising their error, served an amended bill of
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