Professional negligence proceedings against solicitors dismissed on grounds of delay

Motion to dismiss for want of prosecution - inordinate and inexcusable delay - motion to set aside the renewal of the plenary summons - claim is for damages for alleged professional negligence - purchaser of commercial premises retained solicitors to complete the conveyance - premises were held subject to and with the benefit of a commercial occupational lease - firm failed to advise her regarding the statutory renewal rights of the tenant - claim is for €1.72 million, calculated as the purchase price of the premises, compensation paid to the tenant for vacant possession, legal and professional fees and banking charges - also claims for personal injuries in the form of stress and anxiety suffered by her as a result of the alleged negligence - chronology - no real argument that the delay on the part of the purchaser been anything other than inordinate - proceedings were commenced five years after the cause of action accrued - significant periods of delay in the intervening years - twelve years after the cause of action accrued the case is not yet ready for trial and the pleadings have not closed - whether the delay was excusable - application of law to the facts - death of her husband - alleged intermediary - question of indemnity insurance - culpable inaction by a defendant - Court did not consider the later inaction of the firm caused or contributed to the delay and the purchaser cannot point to a concrete action or inaction that might have led her to believe that she was not at risk from delay - balance of justice - personal difficulties suffered by the purchaser - personal circumstance offer no excuse - prejudice -multiple engagements - memories decay - difficult at this remove to identify the extent to which the general difficulties encountered by the purchaser at the time of her alleged loss were attributable in part or at all to the economic collapse generally - firm would suffer concrete prejudice sufficient to tilt the balance of justice in favour of the dismissal of the action.