THE BOOK
A first-hand account of what happens when the promise of fairness meets the reality of the courtroom.
Without Prejudice is the story of an ordinary person entering the Irish courts expecting evidence to matter, procedure to be followed and both sides to be treated fairly.
What follows is a personal account of the proceedings, decisions and encounters that challenged those expectations — and raised increasingly uncomfortable questions about how the legal system operates when you have to navigate it without the protection of money, influence or a legal team.
Told from the author’s perspective and with a healthy dose of sardonic humour, Without Prejudice is written for the ordinary reader, not the lawyer. Legal arguments, procedures and terminology are explained in plain English as they arise, without pages of impenetrable legal jargon.
It examines the gulf between how the legal system is generally perceived and what actually goes on.
This is not a book about the law. It is about one small corner of the legal system — and the rot I found beneath the surface.
THE STORY
It began with a mortgage, a financial crash and a possession case. It became a fifteen-year journey through the Irish courts.
It’s still going on in 2026.
In the aftermath of the financial crash, like thousands of others, I found myself struggling with a mortgage that had once been manageable.
What followed was a long-running legal battle with Bank of Ireland over possession of my home – a battle in which I would ultimately find myself standing in court without a solicitor, facing one of the country’s largest financial institutions and the highly aggressive legal teams representing it.
The first skirmishes came in 2011. The case itself began in 2014. Over the years that followed, the proceedings exposed me to a side of the Irish legal system most people never see: procedural anomalies, questionable legal tactics, unexplained decisions, deliberately omitted facts, arguments over legislation, questions of representation and access to fair procedures. A possession order followed in 2017. But the story did not end there.
I kept the documents. I kept the correspondence. And I began writing down what was happening.
THE AUTHOR
I had no legal training, no previous experience of the courts and no idea what lay ahead.
I’m a graphic designer by profession, I play guitar in a band and I have a dog — nothing special, just an ordinary person who found himself in the same position as thousands of other homeowners in the aftermath of the financial crash.
I could not afford legal representation, and legal aid was not available for possession proceedings. If I wanted to defend my home, I had to do it myself.
So I learned as I went – researching the law, preparing my own case and standing in court opposite experienced and highly aggressive legal teams.
Fifteen years on, I have learned a lot – and I’m still learning.
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PAPERBACK
Paperback edition.
A first-hand account of a fifteen-year battle through the Irish courts, told in plain English and with a healthy dose of sardonic humour.
Signed copies available on request.
€16.99
The complete printed edition.
Dispatched from 17 August. Signed copy available upon request.
The PDF edition of Without Prejudice – Part One, David Morrissey’s first-hand account of a fifteen-year journey through the Irish courts.
The PDF version is exclusive to this site.
€7.99
Exclusive to this site.
Downloadable from 17 August.
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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-0668463-0-6