	guinness challenges mln stg payment to lawyer guinness plc guin l the brewing group has challenged a mln stg payment to a u s lawyer who says he organised its controversial takeover of scotch whisky maker the distillers co plc but attorneys for lawyer thomas ward a member of the guinness board told a court yesterday in the channel island of jersey that ward saw the payment as his reward for services in last year s billion stg takeover britain s department of trade and industry is investigating the takeover guinness says its former chairman ernest saunders and ward breached their fiduciary duty in authorising the payment to ward via a jersey based company marketing and uisitions consultants and has gone to the jersey court to recover it mac said in defence documents that ward was the main negotiator in the battle for distillers against rival bidder argyll ayll l group plc the bid would not have been successful but for the services of mr ward mac attorneys said in the documents submitted in court the payment was in all the circumstances reasonable proper and fully earned reuter 
