PROPERTY DEVELOPER Patrick McKillen faces legal bills that could reach £20 million (€25 million) following his High Court defeat in London in his battle to win control of three luxury London hotels.
Mr McKillen was refused leave to appeal yesterday by Mr Justice David Richards, although he is to seek permission directly from the court of appeal within three weeks.
The case centred on Mr McKillen’s bid to win majority control over the Berkeley, the Connaught and Claridge’s hotels – three of London’s most famous hotels.
In August, Mr Justice Richards rejected his claims that brothers David and Frederick Barclay had improperly won control over financier Derek Quinlan’s shares in the hotels. For now, the Belfast-born developer must pay over £6 million of the legal bill within 42 days, although Mr McKillen’s lawyer had sought that he should not pay anything in advance to some opponents. Mr McKillen’s spokesman said last night he would pay the bill “from his own resources, so that there is no ambiguity about that”.
Despite being determined to press ahead with an appeal, Mr McKillen’s lawyer, Richard Hill QC, told the high court that “we accept that we lost . . . resoundingly”.
Lawyers for the secretive Barclay brothers said their costs alone ran to £7.6 million, while Mr McKillen’s team said his bill amounted to £6 million.
Lawyers for Mr Quinlan – who formed Coroin Ltd in 2004 deal to buy the three hotels, along with the since sold-off Savoy – said his bills ran to £4.6 million.
Coroin – the holding company that owns the hotels and in which Mr McKillen still remains a significant shareholder, if a minority one – is claiming £775,000.
The cost of the case, which began with pre-trial hearings last October, had doubled from estimates made in January because of Mr McKillen’s “conduct”, said Mr Quinlan’s QC Stephen Auld.
Lord Grabiner, representing the Barclay brothers, said the case could have “cost £200,000 and been dealt with in a day”, except that Mr McKillen had indulged in “total warfare litigation”.
Mr Hill said Mr McKillen should have to pay little or nothing on account for the costs incurred by Mr Quinlan or the Barclay-controlled companies involved in the case.
Mr Quinlan’s legal bill was “astonishingly high”, Mr Hill said, although the judge said Mr McKillen’s offer to pay a 10th of the Barclay companies bill in advance was not “very realistic”.Directors of the Barclay-controlled companies are seeking costs of £2.1 million, while the National Asset Management Agency – which was sued for selling Coroin’s debt to the Barclays – put its costs at £750,000.
The bills will be sent to a costs judge, who is expected to rule within nine to 12 months. Bills are usually reduced by 30 per cent, according to legal sources last night.
Mr Justice Richards said £2.5 million of the Barclays’ bill should be paid up front; £1.5 million of Mr Quinlan’s; £1 million of the Barclay directors bill and £500,000 of Nama’s bill. Nama lawyer William Willson had sought an advance of £500,000, arguing that Nama was a “government body representing the interests of the Irish people”.
The Nama legal team had received lower-than-usual fees, including an hourly rate of £475 for counsel, he said, while Mr McKillen had “held himself out as an individual of some means”.
