Local businessman discusses the justice system and doing business in Derry

Daniel McAteer, originally from Creggan, is a qualified accountant and in the early 1990s he and a business partner set up an accountancy practice in Derry.

He explains “We set up the business from scratch and like most start up professional practices, we made little or no profit or the first five or six years. However, after ten years of hard slog, we established a good business here in Derry. Our ambition was to bring high quality and affordable professional services to the business community here.”

Sadly, things took a dramatic turn during 2002 when two of his former business associates began litigation against him.

“Very serious allegations were made regarding the handling of business which gave rise to a raft of legal cases. Ironically, the ringmaster behind the cases was our former solicitor” he continued.

“We had to sell everything to pay legal bills. This put a huge strain on my family and my business partners as the cases effectively destroyed the business and my reputation. The last straw came when, at the opening of one of the cases, the barrister representing me, in the hallway of the Court threatened me by saying that if I didn’t agree to pay £50,000 there and then, then he would walk off the case.”

Shortly after that, and having run out of resources, Daniel was forced to begin representing himself in the High Court. “I had no choice but to represent myself or lose everything we had worked for.”

“For the next 15 years, I was working on average 80 hours per week trying to keep the business going while at the same time travelling up and down to Belfast three or four times a week to deal with the cases.

“In many cases, I was facing opponents that were being represented by large legal firms often funded by insurers based in London. The pressure was serious.”

During 2009, things would take an even worse turn as a result of a health issue.

“By 2009, we were out of funds and the business had been decimated. At this time, I had been experiencing severe headaches and medical investigations at the Royal Victoria in Belfast disclosed that I had a brain aneurysm  . At the time, my doctors put me off the road pending further investigations. We did not know how serious the issue was.

“I was due to appear in the High Court in relation to an appeal against a Judgment that had been taken against us behind our backs. I was unable to attend because of the health scare.

“A solicitor on my behalf asked the Judge to adjourn the hearing to give me time to resolve the health issue and find out how serious my condition was.

“The Judge refused to adjourn the case and gave Judgment against us and denied us the right of appeal. In doing so, he made the comment ‘if he is fit enough to get a brain scan, he is fit enough to run his case’. I was obviously shocked by this barbaric comment.”

He added: “I should also say that I had many positive experiences with many other Judges who treated me fairly and with respect, although they didn’t always agree with my view of a case. I would also say that the staff in the court service were extremely helpful and kind at all times.”

After years of perseverance, the tables did begin to turn.

He explained: “Whilst the experience almost put my lights out in every way, the tide began to turn when I successfully defended all the allegations made against me and began pursuing those who had brought the cases.

“There were a number of positive outcomes as a result of my experience. One example is that there is now a Judgment that allows litigants in person (people who represent themselves in court) to claim £125 per hour when they successfully represent themselves.

“Another case has confirmed that professional people can now sue for defamation, where false statements are made about them to their professional bodies.”

Despite his experience in the legal system, he is a dedicated advocate for a proper justice system.

“I believe in justice and can see where law can make a difference. However, I also believe that a major overhaul is necessary. Over the past 20 years, many Judges have said that we should not confuse law with justice. I had mistakenly believed that the two were the same.”

PCI Consulting was set up over 20 years ago as a result of the legal difficulties. Daniel is reflective on his experience.

“It is strange how things work out,” he said. “We were forced to change our business model because of the legal problems and yet the experience we have had has become invaluable. Our business did not only survive but has gone from strength to strength.

“At the time the legal problems seemed like a nightmare. But looking back, the experience may have been a blessing in disguise. We are now using our unique expertise to provide effective consultancy services in a range of sectors. We now get the opportunity to work in extremely interesting and worthwhile projects locally and across the globe.”

When asked about doing business in Derry, he had this to say: “There is no doubt that there has been progress here since 1965, when I was born.

“However, I also believe that Derry has not been given a chance to fulfil its potential and while some people here have done well, a lot of people have been left behind.

“We would like to change that by opening up new channels for economic development in Derry and I believe that a key element of this must be the creation of a system of justice that is fit for purpose. Time will tell if we succeed.”

Daniel McAteer is a qualified accountant, is a graduate of Queen’s University and holds a Masters from University College London. If any of the issues discussed here are of interest to you, please contact PCI Consulting at Daniel.McAteer@pciconsultinglimited.com