Breda O'Malley

Corporate and commercial, Employment

Partner with extensive experience in advising clients of our Corporate and commercial and Employment Law departments. Breda has particular expertise in employment law, advising both employers and employees on all aspects of the employment relationship, including terms and conditions of employment, equality matters and industrial relations issues. She proactively works to resolve employment disputes in a conciliatory manner where feasible. Breda handles employment law claims directly herself without Counsel in the Employment Appeals Tribunal, the Equality Tribunal and other industrial relations fora. She has a wide range of experience in dealing with commercial disputes, with a focus on resolving them at the earliest stage possible. Her commercial litigation experience extends across the range of civil courts in Ireland. She has extensive experience of drafting and negotiating commercial contracts at the different levels of the business supply chain. She advises on a wide range of legal queries for businesses across a range of sectors including retail, logistics, aviation and others. Breda is a CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) accredited mediator and practices as a mediator of commercial and employment disputes. She is currently a Council Member of the Irish Commercial Mediation Association. She is also a member of One Resolve, a panel of accredited mediators with legal, financial and insurance expertise. She regularly gives management and staff training workshops and up-skilling practical seminars to employer business clients on employment law issues. She has presented widely to trade and professional groups and at high profile conferences on topics including outsourcing, shared services, agency workers and the Working Time Directive and TUPE regulations. Breda trained with Hayes solicitors and then worked as an in-house Solicitor in Coca Cola before spending 12 years practising commercial and employment law in a large Dublin firm. She rejoined Hayes as a partner in 2008.

Bachelor of Laws Degree, Trinity College Dublin Professional qualification as a solicitor, Law Society of Ireland, 1996 Accredited Mediator, Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), London Diploma in Corporate Governance and Commercial Law, Law Society of Ireland Certificate in Commercial Contracts, Law Society of Ireland Master Class in Law Firm Management, Outsource Certificate in Data Protection Law and Practice, Law Society of Ireland