Erroneous story regarding legal action in Dubai

I was notified today of a story which appeared in relation to a legal client of mine, the Dublin law firm Anthony Joyce & Co, and two groups of investors whom I also represent. The story appeared on AIB’s ForEx news site after it was fed in via a feed from BusinessWorld.com. The story was written by BusinessWorld but with confusion over two different legal groups of investors and two separate actions.

Here are the corrections from the errors in the story below, which has now been taken down by AIBForEx and Business World, but may have been picked up by investors earlier.

1. Anthony Joyce is currently representing a group of investors called KRI, these are investors in the Kensington Royale Development in Sports City. He is no longer representing the Concerned Dubai Sports City Investors Group, more recently known as the Dubai Action Group, and they are in no way connected to the current action being undertaken by the firm.

2. Whilst Anthony Joyce is currently liaising with MED there are no plans for him or any representative of his firm to travel to Dubai.

3. KRI does not consist of two separate groups, from the Republic of Ireland and Britain, they consist of investors from eight different countries across the globe.

4. At the moment no developer in Dubai is being sued by Anthony Joyce & Co, the KRI Group, or the Dubai Action Group / Concerned Dubai Sports City Investors Group.

If anyone requires any details on either of the parties concerned above then please contact Simon Palmer of Republic PR.

This was the story that appeared….

Irish investors sue Dubai developers

Ends

Wanted man Karl Morris of Simple Overseas Properties

Have you seen Karl Morris?

40 clients of Dublin legal firm Anthony Joyce & Co are looking for Karl Morris to recover over €1m of funds, which they claim they paid him for deposits on properties in the Asilah Beach development in Morocco.

Morris has properties in  Ireland and Spain. He was last seen at his villa in Benalmadena near Malaga in Spain.

A private detective hired by investors cannot find him so Anthony Joyce is issuing a public appeal to find him.

If you have any details about the whereabouts of Karl Morris then please contact Anthony Joyce on + 353 (0) 1 4545 000.

Ends

Kensington Royale, Dubai Sports City – Middle East Development LLC

Along with solicitor Anthony Joyce,  I recently met investors from all over Ireland whom have bought property in the Kensington Royale development in the Dubai Sports City development, which is being marketed by MED (Middle Eastern Development LLC).

'Progress' shot from MED's website July 2010 (please click image to zoom)

The investors agreed to form an action group and appoint Anthony Joyce to act on their behalf and Republic to help them with the media and promotion to other investors on line. This is the sixth overseas property group Anthony Joyce are representing.

The action group is now successfully taking shape and we are receiving multiple daily requests from other investors in Kensington Royale who want to get involved. We have been contacted by over 30 investors from numerous countries around the world.

Anthony Joyce has now contacted MED and is seeking answers and exploring the groups options.

If any further investors would like to join the Group then please contact me on simon@republicpr.ie or telephone on +353 1 282 2504. For further details please see http://www.republicpr.ie.

Ends

Property firm Flash Developments faces court probe

This is an article from The Sunday Business Post relating to a court probe into Flash Developments and possible use of investors’ deposits to run the firm.

Sunday, June 27, 2010 - By Ian Kehoe

The High Court has ordered an investigation into property company Flash Developments, after evidence emerged that the company may have used deposits from buyers to finance the running of the firm.

It has also emerged in court documents that the company, which is headed by businessman Ciaran Maguire, may not have title over land in Cape Verde, where it had proposed to build a €100 million property scheme.

Flash has taken deposits from more than 200 prospective buyers, but has not signed any contracts in relation to a proposed development.

The company went into liquidation earlier this month, but Maguire insisted that all deposits were safe and the development would go ahead through another company called the Ciaran Maguire Group.

However, documents filed last week by the liquidator, KPMG accountant Kieran Wallace, said that Flash appeared ‘‘to have financed the general running of the company’’ from the deposits it received, rather than place them on secure deposit.

‘‘From our initial investigations, it does not appear that the company has title to land, nor have any contracts been signed by the company,” the liquidator added.

During a High Court hearing last week, Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan drew attention to the two claims and said they should be investigated by Wallace.

The judge adjourned the matter for four weeks, to give the directors of Flash time to file a detailed statement of its assets and liabilities.

A number of people who paid deposits to Flash for apartments and villas have already sought the return of their money, while others are putting together an action group to try to recover their money, following a 16month delay in starting the project.

Maguire has insisted the project will go ahead through the new company.

He said last month that the first phase of the development was valued at €100 million and would include a five-star hotel.

Maguire said he had a 15-year licence with the Cape Verde government to build on the island, and that he would ultimately build developments valued at €1.8 billion.

Ends

Calling investors in Kensington Royale in Dubai Sports City.

Dublin legal firm Anthony Joyce & Co have contacted by a group of investors in Kensington Royal, in Sports City, part of Dubailand in Dubai. The developers are MED (Middle Eastern Developments)  has recently written to the purchasers looking for money despite the fact that the developer has not complied with the contract. The group hope to gather more members in order to increase their bargaining power and obtain answers their numerous concerns. If you are a concerned investor in Kensington Royale, please contact Simon Palmer of Republic PR at simon@republicpr.ie for further details.

Ends

Getting a case admitted to Dublin’s Commercial Court can mean a much quicker legal process

Guest post by solicitor Anthony Joyce of Dublin legal firm Anthony Joyce & Co.

Question: I have heard that having a case admitted to the Commercial Court can be a much faster method of obtaining a resolution – is this true? And what are the conditions that must be met to have a case admitted?

Answer: Yes it is true, if you are currently involved in a commercial dispute, having your case admitted to the Commercial Court (also known as the High Court Commercial List) can allow you to resolve a dispute more quickly and effectively than through the normal High Court procedures. The Commercial Court is effectively a fast track of the High Court reserved for commercial cases.

Cases which are admitted to the Commercial Court start and finish in a short time frame, on average, within twenty one weeks of the transfer of proceedings.

An application to have a case admitted to the Commercial Court can be made at any time, but the rules of the Court provide for a stay to be put on proceedings for a period of 28 days to allow mediation, conciliation or arbitration to take place.

In order to gain entry to the Commercial Court the dispute must fall into one of the following categories:

1. Current financial disputes where the claim, or counterclaim, is not less than €1,000,000 can be admitted to the Commercial Court. However, there has been some speculation that the minimum entry level of may be increased to €2,500,000.
2. Any application or proceedings under the Arbitration Acts where the value of any claim or counterclaim is not less than €1,000,000.
3. Any legal dispute relating to a patents, a trade mark, copyright, industrial design or a case relating to ‘passing off’, for example where a competitor has tried to ‘pass off’ your product as their own.
4. Any appeal or application for a judicial review of a previous decision or determination that judge considers it suitable for admission to the Commercial Court.

There is also a catch all condition that can allow any case to heard where the Judge considers it appropriate for entry into the Commercial Court. But, whilst it does have a broad discretion to admit cases, it must be remembered that it is at the discretion of the High Court and even if your case falls into one of the above categories this does not automatically entitle you to entry.

Once your case has been admitted the it runs quickly because of the rules which provide for what is termed ‘detailed case management’, this ensures a strict timetable for any cases has to be met by all parties involved and they are fined if these deadlines are not met – this is why the Commercial Court moves so much faster than the High Court

The Commercial Court in Dublin has been a great success. It has garnered an international reputation as a Court that is simple to access and where disputes can be settled in a swift and cost effective manner compared to Courts abroad.

The success of the Commercial Court has promoted Ireland as a country where any commercial disputes arising can be resolved quickly and effectively. An efficient legal system and settling of disputes in this manner is vitally important in order to be able to attract international business. The Commercial Court is something that Ireland should be very proud off.

by Anthony Joyce, Principal, Anthony Joyce & Co, Dublin – www.anthonyjoyce.ie

Ends