Ian Bailey’s ex Jules Thomas says solicitor wanted her to waive right to sue before he would release files

Sun 17 Sep 2023 at 01:30 UP DATED BY WATCHROOT OCTOBER 2023.

Jules Thomas, the ex-partner of Ian Bailey, said she was forced to take legal action against her former solicitor for not releasing her files, after he said he would only release them if she waived her right to sue him and her entitlement to take independent legal advice before doing so.

Thomas, an artist, said she was “gobsmacked” to receive the letter from Frank Buttimer, a prominent Cork-based solicitor who represented her in a civil action against the State that was ultimately dropped.

Buttimer continues to represent Bailey, who has been convicted of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in absentia by a French court. Bailey denies having anything to do with Toscan du Plantier’s 1996 death and Irish courts have refused to extradite him to France.

Thomas, who maintains her former partner had no role in Toscan du Plantier’s murder, said she has been seeking the return of her legal file from Buttimer for almost a year.​

It is understood one of the reasons Thomas wants the records is to assist her in a personal injury High Court action she has brought against Netflix over a documentary she claims portrays her as an accomplice to murder.

Thomas said she was forced to file a High Court action against Buttimer, in a case where she is representing herself, after she received a letter from him last month that set out a series of preconditions before her documents would be released.

The letter, dated August 4, said that if Thomas withdrew her threat of litigation, her files could be released. ​

The waiver would mean Thomas had formally withdrawn her threat to sue the firm and would confirm that no complaint to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority or litigation would arise from the Cork firm’s representation of her.

‘My prayer has always been for the truth to be revealed’ – Jules Thomas on Ian Bailey and sueing Netflix

It also said Thomas was “waiving any entitlement that you have in that regard and waiving your entitlement to independent legal advice in relation to receipt and waiver”.

Thomas said she was “stunned and completely gobsmacked” by the letter and had no intention of signing such a waiver.​

She said she was tired of being treated as “flotsam” and not having her rights respected so she had decided to instigate a High Court action to recover the files.

Her High Court action also seeks damages from Buttimer for alleged breach of contract, breach of duty and negligence.

Buttimer said he was made aware of Thomas’s legal action through media contacts.

“I will deal with it appropriately when I have seen it,” he said.

Bailey, who is recovering in hospital from what he said was a double heart attack, said he was “astonished” by Thomas’s “crazy” decision.

“No solicitor could have done more for his clients than Frank Buttimer,” he said.

“He worked extremely hard for us and it was entirely pro bono.”

Bailey said he believed Thomas had been influenced in her decision to sue Buttimer by Vincent O’Donoghue, a struck-off solicitor who was convicted of fraud in 2013.

Thomas confirmed that O’Donoghue is one of “a number of contacts” who were providing her with advice.

O’Donoghue has worked as an adviser to film director Jim Sheridan in recent years.

Sheridan made a documentary, Murder at the Cottage, in 2021 for Sky about Bailey and the Toscan du Plantier case.