I met the late Garrett Cooney, a formidable and most eloquent senior counsel, in The Old Spot gastropub nearly a decade ago.  Garrett was an acclaimed defamation lawyer who also represented Albert Reynolds at the Beef Tribunal and the Murphy builder family at the Flood Tribunal.  Casting a cold eye on the warm wooden tables and casual diners, Garrett said, sotto voce, that we must have real lunch soon, but he insisted: “It must be in a proper restaurant, Sam, with white starched tablecloths and silver cutlery.” We did have that bibulous and memorable follow-up lunch with a couple of…

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