Court orders modular trial of dispute regarding defectively designed products

Commercial Court – pre-trial application – application for a modular trial – application for further and better discovery or striking out the defendant’s defence and counterclaim for failure to make discovery – breach of contract - defects in the design and manufacture of the products supplied by the defendant caused serious failures when installed in units it supplied to its customers’ poultry farms – defendant denies designing the systems – pleadings – particulars of loss – defence - terms and conditions governing the transactions – liability - made a mistake in relation to the correct placement of a distributor pipe inside a steam drum within the heat exchanger – no causation - contributory negligence – counterclaim - proceedings in the Hague – progress of the proceedings - modular trial – applicable principles – res judicata - benefits of a modular trial – prejudice - defining the first module - question of governing law - module to determine both the question of applicable terms and conditions and any remaining question, should there be one, of whether Irish or Dutch law applies to the relationship or parts thereof – adequacy of the discovery provided - language of search terms – complains that the defendant’s affidavit of discovery does not suggest that searches were conducted to trace correspondence with external consultants and does not describe whether the assistance of such consultants was sought in identifying relevant documents - dates of calculations – supplementary discovery ordered –