A. I. IGUH, J.S.C. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): What calls for decision in this appeal is whether or not the Court of Appeal was right in setting aside the order of the High Court of Lagos State that the plaintiffs do give security for the defendant's costs in the sum of $84,279.76 (Eighty-Four Thousand, Two Hundred and Seventy Nine U.S. Dollars Seventy-Six Cents) with N10,000.00 (Ten Thousand Naira) and that further proceedings by or on behalf of the plaintiffs in the suit be stayed until the said security is given.
It is, perhaps, convenient for a better appreciation of the issue that arises for consideration in this appeal to set out briefly the background facts to the dispute between the parties. The plaintiffs are foreign limited liability companies. Their case as pleaded, is that the 1st plaintiff retained the professional services of the defendant, a legal practitioner, to defend its interest in Suit No. FHC/PH/27/86 pending at the Federal High Court Port Harcourt. This s…