Michael Flatley’s continuing legal battle with an entertainment company over control of the Lord of the Dance show is fast becoming farcical, a High Court judge in Belfast has said.
Judge Ian Huddleston expressed frustration at the “tit for tat” style of litigation being waged between the star and Switzer Consulting Ltd.
On Tuesday, Flatley obtained a new emergency injunction against the firm amid allegations it had breached an undertaking not to interfere with a 30th-anniversary tour of the multimillion-euro show.
At an ex parte hearing his lawyers claimed Switzer was in contempt of the agreement in advance of a show due to take place in Zagreb, Croatia.
Proceedings returned to court on Wednesday as the Northern Ireland-based company confirmed it will seek to have the injunction set aside and mount a separate application to be discharged from previous undertakings.
In a further development, Flatley advanced attempts to secure the removal of Alexandra Walshe, the daughter of his former financial adviser Des Walshe, from her role in Switzer.
The judge heard it was an urgent bid to have another trustee installed which could “unlock” the other legal disputes.
Stressing the need to reach a resolution, the judge indicated that the current style of litigation will not be tolerated indefinitely.
“This is fast becoming farcical. It needs to be brought to some sort of measured conclusion, and quickly,” he stated.
“It can’t go on like this, and the courts are not going to be allowed to be drawn into it.”
The judge called for applications to be based on facts rather than “vague” unsigned documents.
“My frustration is it’s just tit for tat, that isn’t helpful to the court,” he added.
“In my view, and it is just a preliminary observation, the urgency … has overtaken the actual discipline of making sure affidavits are properly grounded. That is not a happy position for a judge to be in and then having to determine the issues which arise.”
Flatley has been locked in acrimonious actions over running the Lord of the Dance show he created. Switzer initially issued proceedings against the 67-year-old choreographer and retired performer amid disputed allegations about his financial affairs which it said had put the tour in jeopardy.
Amid counter moves, he has terminated the 2024 service agreement at the centre of the legal row and claimed he owns the company and rights to Lord of the Dance.
Earlier this year an interim ban on Flatley being involved in forthcoming shows was lifted.
Undertakings were also given that Switzer would not obstruct him from staging a premiere in Dublin in early February.
The star now alleges that the firm has breached those pledges through interference in the European leg of the tour.
His barrister, David Dunlop, also confirmed an application was being advanced to remove and replace Walshe as a trustee.
No allegations of wrongdoing were being made against her, the court heard.
But contending Flatley has a 100 per cent right to the company’s shares, Dunlop suggested she can be replaced “at the behest of a disgruntled and unhappy beneficiary”.
He added: “If that issue is dealt with it is a mechanism of unlocking a lot of the other heavy litigation.”
Counsel for Walshe, Plunkett Nugent, questioned the alleged urgency of the application and suggested it may be an attempt to “outflank” the separate proceedings.
“There is a multitude of litigation going on and suites of documents which are interlinked,” he said.
A barrister representing Switzer told the court it will seek to have the latest emergency injunction lifted before mounting a bid for undertakings to be dismissed.
He submitted: “There are live issues with regards to shows that are ongoing, issues in relation to the provision of services contract between the parties.”
