McCann FitzGerald LLP

McCann FitzGerald LLP

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Sean Barton

Sean Barton

Seán is a specialist in administrative and public law. He advises public bodies on their functions and on compliance matters under legislation including public office and official languages legislation and frequently acts for public authorities in the defence of judicial review proceedings. He has a strong understanding of public sector processes and the corporate governance and legal risk management issues relating to public sector bodies. He has also acted for public bodies in a range of investigations and enforcement actions, including prosecutions. He also acts in investigations and enforcement actions. He advises several public authorities, including the Irish courts' rule-making authorities, on the preparation of primary and delegated legislation and the development of procedural rules. He has also advised and acted for foreign governments and public bodies involved in Irish litigation. Seán acts regularly in substantial domestic and international commercial disputes, both in litigation before the Irish courts and in arbitrations under various institutional rules. He is frequently involved in Commercial Court litigation, especially in the regulatory sphere.
Hugh Beattie

Hugh Beattie

Hugh is the lead partner in the London Office of McCann FitzGerald LLP. Hugh specialises in investment funds, debt capital markets, restructuring, structured finance, secured lending and enforcement, bank/financial services regulation, securitisation and corporate treasury. As well as being lead counsel in respect of debt capital markets matters to two of the six Irish credit institutions covered by the Irish Government Guarantee scheme, he has, at one time or another, acted for or advised most bank, investment firm and major capital markets participants who have dealt in the Irish market in relation to various transactions and/or Irish company, securities and financial services laws.
Niall Best

Niall Best

Niall is a partner in our Dubin Office  and specialises in advising indigenous and multinational corporate clients on their activities in Ireland. His practice includes transactional work, such as mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and reorganisations, joint ventures and commercial contracts.  He also undertakes a wide range of advisory work, advising on private company law issues and corporate governance matters. He has recently worked on transactions in the pharma, retail, telecoms and aviation sectors and on several complex multi-jurisdictional corporate reorganisations.
Roddy Bourke

Roddy Bourke

Roddy’s practice includes: commercial disputes, including international and jurisdictional issues defending product liability claims in respect of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer products; product recall and safety patent and other IP disputes insurance policy interpretation, and representing insureds and insurers in D&O, commercial indemnity and other disputes Roddy Bourke has chaired the Law Society's Litigation Committee and Arbitration/Mediation Committee and is an active member of the International Association of Defense Counsel.
Audrey Byrne

Audrey Byrne

Audrey’s practice centres on commercial disputes and investigations, with a focus on shareholder disputes, fraud and asset tracing. Audrey has in depth experience in co-ordinating international litigation and investigations in multiple common law and civil law jurisdictions including the Russian Federation, Ukraine, India, Panama, BVI, UAE and Belize and has travelled extensively to local jurisdictions where necessary, acting as lead counsel. Audrey has extensive commercial court experience and is well versed in managing large scale e-discoveries using the most up to date techniques and platforms, ensuring that discovery is delivered cost effectively and on time. Audrey is a CEDR accredited Mediator and has attended many mediations involving a variety of disputes, both as Mediator and advisor. Client’s value her practical, strategic advice.
Rosaleen Byrne

Rosaleen Byrne

Rosaleen is a partner in the firm’s Disputes Group. Rosaleen has almost 20 years’ experience of handling complex and large scale commercial disputes in a number of sectors including financial services, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, aviation and pensions. Rosaleen's practice has a particular focus on cases with a regulatory or economic aspect and encompasses investigations and enforcement actions. Rosaleen also advises clients on all types of intellectual property matters with a focus in recent years on patent litigation.
Barrett Chapman

Barrett Chapman

Barrett is a partner of the Construction Group practising in all areas of construction law including advising developers, contractors, consultants, insurers and funders on a wide variety of construction related issues. In addition, Barrett has developed particular expertise in the areas of professional indemnity insurance, dispute resolution and health & safety. Barrett has contributed articles to a variety of periodicals and has lectured to audiences on construction law related topics at Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, the Construction Industry Federation and Engineers’ Ireland.
Eamon de Valera

Eamon de Valera

Eamon specialises in the areas of acquisition finance, property and development finance and general secured and unsecured lending. He has represented banks and borrowers on a wide variety of transactions and continues to advise banks in relation to enforcement remedies. Eamon has considerable experience in reviewing and updating security documentation on behalf of financial institutions and has advised several clients on banking issues with regard to insolvency, loan and security documents.
Catherine Derrig

Catherine Derrig

Catherine’s practice involves advising clients in a wide range of contentious matters including commercial disputes, financial products disputes, professional indemnity matters and corporate fraud. She has particular experience of disputes in the banking and financial services, health insurance and professional indemnity sectors. Catherine also advises a wide range of public and private bodies on administrative and regulatory law issues and has considerable experience of judicial review and competition matters. Catherine has extensive experience of complex multi party commercial litigation, often involving significant discovery, in the Commercial and other Superior Courts. Effective and efficient dispute resolution is her priority as she advises on all aspects of the litigation process and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
Michelle Doyle

Michelle Doyle

Michelle specialises in advising on the preparation and execution of major infrastructural projects as well as defending challenges to related consents/decisions. She has particular experience in disputes relating to planning, environmental and administrative law issues. Michelle also co-ordinates "judicial review proofing" exercises for clients, the objective being to identify any weaknesses in the decision making process and to address and resolve them quickly to ensure that any decision that issues would readily withstand challenge. She has extensive experience in large Commercial Court disputes, many involving substantial discovery (including contested discovery applications). In such cases, Michelle uses her vast general litigation experience to focus on the client’s objectives and to map a litigation strategy designed to achieve them in a speedy and effective manner and with all necessary conciliation or aggression as the situation requires.
Colm Fanning

Colm Fanning

Colm handles a range of general banking and financial work but has particular experience in project finance, corporate banking, structured finance, asset finance, tax based leasing, receivables syndication and PPPs. In recent years Colm has worked extensively on many of the major infrastructure project financings in Ireland. He has advised public authorities, bidding consortia and funders in PPP competition and projects across a range of sectors, including roads, rail, waste, health, energy and renewables, culture, education and technology.
Adam Finlay

Adam Finlay

Adam is Head of the firm’s Technology & Innovation Group and advises on a wide range of information technology, intellectual property, data protection, freedom of information, confidentiality and sports law issues. He has particular expertise in relation to the protection and commercialisation of intellectual property, including drafting and negotiating assignment, licensing, collaboration, technology transfer, franchising, distribution, agency, sponsorship and naming rights agreements and advising on brand protection strategy, advertising and product placement. He is also a registered trade mark agent. On the technology side, Adam drafts and negotiates software licences, services agreements and outsourcing agreements and advises on legal issues in connection with transacting online and dealing with consumers. In the area of rights and obligations in relation to information, he regularly advises clients in the public and private sectors on data protection, freedom of information, access to information on the environment, open data and confidentiality matters.
Richard Gill

Richard Gill

Richard has extensive experience in advising on cross border aircraft portfolio financings, aircraft sale and leaseback transactions, capital market transactions (including aircraft securitisations), ECA and Ex-Im backed financings and debt restructurings. Richard also has significant experience in drafting and negotiating aircraft leasing, purchase, sale, servicing, financing and security agreements. He acts for many leading operating lessors and financiers in the aviation industry. Richard has also advised clients in connection with the acquisition and disposal of operating leasing companies and in relation to the establishment and operation of aviation joint ventures.
Jennifer Halpin

Jennifer Halpin

Jennifer specialises in advising on the sale, purchase and leasing of commercial and residential properties, including houses, apartments, commercial units and development lands. She has particular experience in negotiating the granting and reservation of rights of way, easements, wayleaves and other rights over land, especially in the context of the sale and purchase of wind farms. Jennifer has vast experience advising on the property aspects of secured lending transactions and counts numerous financial institutions and lenders amongst her clients. In recent years, Jennifer has established herself as a leading advisor on both the vendor and purchaser side of several large loan portfolio sale transactions and she has deployed her legal and technical skills in managing the delivery of due diligence output from multiple external law firms and project managing the processes. Her clients include corporate bodies, private individuals, financial institutions, local and statutory authorities and not-for-profit organisations. Jennifer was recently awarded The Client Choice award for excellence in client services – ‘Real Estate, Ireland’ at the 2018 Lexology Client Choice Awards in London.
Josh Hogan

Josh Hogan

Josh is a partner who specialises in Financial Services Regulation and Fintech. Josh is top-ranked by IFLR1000 as a Market Leader and by Chambers Fintech Legal as Band 1. Josh’s practice includes work relating to prudential and conduct regulation, authorisations, acquiring transactions, fitness and probity, compliance issues, transaction regulatory due diligence, regulatory investigations and remediation. He has deep experience advising clients in the areas of consumer and SME finance regulation, credit / hire purchase origination and servicing, electronic money, payment services, crowdfunding, MiFID, virtual / crypto assets, AML and market abuse. Josh has experience working on secondment from McCann FitzGerald in an international bank and in the Government Department of Finance.
Stephen Holst

Stephen Holst

Stephen is our Managing Partner. Before commencing as Managing Partner, Stephen had many years’ experience as a strategic adviser at the highest level in client organisations, guiding them on the people aspects of their significant corporate transactions, organisational change and most critical disputes. Stephen has specialist skills in whistleblowing and investigations into protected disclosures and white-collar crime. He has significant expertise in the employment and industrial relations aspects of acquisitions, mergers, outsourcings, procurement and restructurings; including on redundancy law, union issues, consultation and TUPE. He is one of the leading experts in the Irish market in whistleblowing investigations, with expertise in the highest level investigations across different industries, economic sectors and different legal issues. Stephen is co-author of the chapter on Ireland in the International Comparative Legal Guide to Employment & Labour Law 2018 published by the Global Legal Group and was educated in UCD and DePaul University in Chicago.
Megan Hooper

Megan Hooper

Megan is an experienced commercial litigation solicitor and has, since February 2009, been the lead adviser to two financial institutions in respect of regulatory and criminal investigations arising from legacy issues. She advises companies and financial institutions on corporate disputes, regulatory investigations and inquiries and dispute resolution through Commercial Court litigation and mediation. She is knowledgeable about the procedures of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, the Director of Public Prosecutions and regulatory bodies such as the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board, the Central Bank of Ireland and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. She has experience responding to orders and statutory requests under the under the Companies Acts, the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, the Bankers Books Evidence Act and the Central Bank Administrative Sanctions Procedure and has experience dealing with data protection and customer confidentiality issues.
David Hurley

David Hurley

David has a wide range of experience in the defence of tort, marine, public, employer and product liability and safety claims, as well as contractual disputes, including contractual debt recovery. He acts for a wide variety of clients in the construction, maritime, motor, medical device and pharmaceutical industries. He is particularly experienced in advising on all issues relating to insurance indemnity. David has considerable general litigation and dispute resolution experience and has advised a number of the largest companies in the State, as well as various state bodies.
Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly has been a Partner with the firm since 1997. He has advised private sector developers and public sector bodies, funders, contractors, sub-contractors and consultants in relation to contract structures and drafting, contract administration and disputes and entitlements, including at court, mediation, arbitration, adjudication and conciliation. Kevin’s extensive construction practice is bolstered by his expertise in all aspects of public procurement law and projects which extends beyond the realm of construction and infrastructure and into the wider sphere of contracts with public sector organizations. Kevin has written articles and lectures extensively on the areas of construction contracts and procurement. He has lectured on both subjects on the engineering degree course at University College Dublin and, for over 20 years, has lectured on the Diploma in Construction Law and Contract Administration course in Trinity College Dublin.
Helen Kilroy

Helen Kilroy

Helen’s practice is in the field of commercial litigation, mediation and related advisory work. She has wide ranging experience in corporate disputes, in particular shareholder disagreements and breach of warranty claims; insurance disputes in particular professional negligence claims and property disputes. She also advises on partnership disputes, planning disputes, compulsory purchases and statutory investigations and enforcement. Helen is an accredited CEDR mediator (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, London) and has significant experience in mediating commercial disputes covering a broad range of subject matter. She is a former Council member and a past Chairperson of the Irish Commercial Mediation Association. She is a member of the Irish Sports Council's Disciplinary Appeals Board and the Law Society ADR Committee. Helen also lectures on the Law Society Professional Practice course.
Paul Lavery

Paul Lavery

Paul advises on a wide range of information technology, data protection, intellectual property, confidentiality and freedom of information issues. He advises on the supply and implementation of new IT systems, the licensing of software and the ownership, exploitation and licensing of intellectual property rights. Paul drafts and negotiates cutting-edge technology supply and implementation agreements and IT outsourcing agreements with a key focus on mobilisation, business transformation and key performance elements as well as exit management. Paul is a leading  expert on data protection and advises a large number of private sector entities and public bodies on their data protection obligations under existing and prospective  data protection law, including advising on subject access requests, data security incidents, marketing obligations and consents, record retention matters, data protection notices, policies and privacy statements, data controller and data processor registrations as well as solutions to facilitate the transfer of data outside the EEA. Paul is heavily involved in advising a number of private sector and public sector clients on their prospective obligations under the EU General Data Protection Regulation, including carrying out data protection assessments and audits and completing data inventories in order to advise clients on what changes to processing activities, data protection notices and agreements etc to ensure compliance with GDPR. Paul regularly advises on the legal implications of transacting on-line and related consumer protection issues. Paul also advises a number of international clients on their distribution, franchise and sales agency arrangements. In the area of freedom of information, Paul regularly acts for public bodies and private entities. He advises public bodies in respect of their compliance obligations in connection with the Freedom of Information Acts in dealing with access requests, advising on applicable exemptions and dealing with appeals to the Information Commissioner. Paul also advises public bodies and private entities on the application and scope of the Access to Information on the Environment Regulations. As a leading expert on the law of confidentiality, Paul regularly advises clients on confidentiality obligations and the drafting of appropriate confidentiality agreements and secrecy protocols. Paul is the author of Commercial Secrets: The Action for Breach of Confidence in Ireland (Round Hall/ Sweet & Maxwell, 1996), the first and only Irish work on the topic. The book has been quoted in judgments in the Irish Supreme Court.
Richard Leonard

Richard Leonard

Richard has extensive experience in the purchase, financing, letting and disposal of all types of commercial real estate in Ireland. Most recently, Richard has acted for NAMA and other international clients on the buy and sell sides of a significant number of the most substantial and high profile loan portfolio sales relating to loans secured by Irish real estate assets. He acted for the Irish and international brokers and corporate finance houses appointed as sponsors and book runners by Hibernia Reit plc and IRES Reit plc in relation to their respective public share offers. This role involved carrying out due diligence on the real estate assets of Hibernia Reit plc and IRES Reit plc and in each case negotiating and agreeing the form of the stock market prospectus to be published in the context of the Reits’ respective public share offerings.
Eleanor MacDonagh

Eleanor MacDonagh

Eleanor has been practicing since 1992 and specialises in taxation law. She led the expansion of our firm’s Finance Tax practice since 2001. She has particular expertise in international tax structuring through Ireland. She advises on the taxation of capital markets products and on the establishment in Ireland of investment funds and other tax-efficient investment products. Familiar assets classes include real estate, renewables, commodities and an array of financial products. She has expertise and experience in contentious and non-contentious tax dispute resolution in her sectors of expertise.
Gary McSharry

Gary McSharry

Gary is the lead partner in the New York Office of McCann FitzGerald and a Partner in the Corporate Group. He has extensive experience advising a range of leading Irish and multinational companies and private equity funds on a wide range of corporate transactions and commercial arrangements including; mergers and acquisitions (both public and private), corporate inversions, loan portfolio acquisitions/sales, equity capital markets, reorganisations, corporate governance and joint ventures. Gary has advised on a number of high profile transactions in the Irish market over the past number of years across a range of business sectors. Prior to joining McCann FitzGerald, Gary spent a number of years in New York and has developed particular expertise in advising U.S. and international clients on M&A and the establishment of structures/operations in Ireland.
Anna Moran

Anna Moran

Anna has specific expertise in advising domestic and international fund promoters, asset managers and fund service providers on Irish law, financial services regulation and practice related to investment funds. She has recent experience in the structuring, establishment authorisation and ongoing management of a wide range of investment funds, including UCITS funds, AIFs, hedge funds, feeder funds, real estate funds and money market funds. Anna is a former member of, and has participated in, a number of Irish Funds industry working groups.
Brendan Murphy

Brendan Murphy

Brendan advises clients on a wide range of corporate matters with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, alternative capital investment strategies and joint-ventures. Brendan has significant experience acting in relation to large scale loan sale transactions, both on the vendor and purchaser side. Having previously worked in the firm’s Finance group, Brendan is also in a position to leverage his experience in advising both lenders and borrowers in corporate and property finance transactions.
Darragh Murphy

Darragh Murphy

Darragh is a partner in the firm’s Finance Group, specialising in regulatory matters. In particular, he advises on regulatory and commercial matters relevant to financial services businesses, including insurance undertakings, investment management operations, fund promoters, banking entities and payment service providers. Darragh’s practice covers all aspects of carrying on regulated financial services and consumer credit related activities in Ireland whether in relation to the authorisation of entities in this sector, their ongoing business requirements (customer, counterparty and/or regulator facing) and/or problem resolution. Darragh advises extensively on the regulated activities of insurance and reinsurance undertakings – working on many significant corporate and regulatory driven transactions in this area. He also advises banks and other financial institutions dealing with payment services and other FinTech issues, including: SEPA payment systems, credit cards, payment instruments and e-money.
Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy

Michael is Head of both McCann FitzGerald’s Restructuring & Insolvency  and Disputes Groups. He has wide experience of advising in a number of significant restructurings, examinerships, receiverships and liquidations on behalf of all stakeholders including companies, directors, office holders, banks and other creditors. As well as advising when financial difficulties are identified, Michael advises on solvent reorganisations and on mitigating insolvency risk in transactions in the making. Michael is a member of the Irish Society of Insolvency Practitioners and has written and lectured extensively in the area of corporate recovery and insolvency.
Philip Murphy

Philip Murphy

Philip is a partner in our Debt Finance Group with particular expertise in relation to acquisition finance, property finance, construction finance and syndicated lending and regularly acts as lead counsel in numerous multi-jurisdiction transactions. He has a particular expertise in lending into QIAIF structures and also has extensive experience in relation to re-structuring, workouts and pre-enforcement strategies for lenders. Philip has acted for a number of purchasers, sellers and funders on a variety of loan portfolios sales. Philip provides general corporate banking law advice to a range of Irish and international clients on an ongoing basis.
Garreth O'Brien

Garreth O'Brien

Garreth is a partner in our Corporate Group and has overall responsibility for our Company Secretarial and Compliance Group. Garreth provides corporate law advice to some of Ireland's largest organisations and advises international clients on their activities in Ireland. His practice covers transactional work, such as mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and reorganisations, joint ventures and commercial contracts. He also undertakes advisory work, advising on private company law issues and corporate governance. He has recently worked on transactions in the healthcare, telecoms and pharma sectors and on several multi-jurisdictional corporate restructurings. In 2016, Garreth co-authored Mergers: A Legal and Tax Analysis (published by the Institute of Taxation) which was awarded the Norman Bale Irish Tax Review Article of the year.
Brian Quigley

Brian Quigley

Brian specialises in commercial disputes with a focus on financial services disputes including those involving a range of mis-selling related claims against financial institutions and intermediaries both before the courts and the Financial Services Ombudsman. He also advises on the insurance and regulatory issues arising out of such mis-selling claims, administrative law disputes and related judicial reviews, statutory investigations and enforcement, insurance disputes in particular professional negligence claims, partnership disputes, asset recovery following fraud and property disputes including landlord & tenant claims. His clients include bodies regulated by the Financial Regulator for the provision of financial services, investment funds, entities the subject of fraud and State bodies.
Ciara Ryan

Ciara Ryan

Ciara has a broad range of litigation and dispute resolution experience advising a wide range of clients in both the public and private sectors in the areas of property disputes, landlord and tenant disputes, Commercial Court litigation, licensing law and administrative law. Ciara specialises in property disputes and in particular has significant experience dealing with all aspects of commercial landlord and tenant law, acting on behalf of both landlords and tenants.  This specialist expertise is complemented by her in depth High Court experience in property funds litigation and general property related disputes. She also has experience advising in relation to the post-consent phase of infrastructural projects with a focus on statutory land acquisition. Ciara advises various owners and operators in all aspects of licensing law and in particular has experience in advising landlords in relation to the transfer of licences attaching to premises in regular landlord and tenant situations and where a liquidator/receiver or examiner has been appointed over the tenant. She also has recent experience in advising clients in respect of Commissions of Investigation. Ciara is a certified project manager (having been trained in the PMP Methodology) and regularly draws upon her project management expertise to assist in the co-ordination and management of large scale litigation tasks including the management of complex discoveries.
Lisa Smyth

Lisa Smyth

Lisa has experience of advising in restructuring, examinership, receivership, liquidation and personal insolvency on behalf of all stakeholders including companies, examiners, receivers, liquidators, office holders, banks and other creditors. Lisa also has experience of advising the administrators of insurance companies and advises on all debt recovery options for creditors. She recently spent six months in NAMA during which time she was heavily involved in its successful defence of lengthy judicial review proceedings.
Tony Spratt

Tony Spratt

Tony advises clients on the structuring and establishment of every type of Irish fund, particularly in the alternative fund sector. He provides advice on the regulatory and structural issues related to the establishment process of investment funds, including alternative investment funds, UCITS (using both traditional and alternative strategies) and structured products. As head of our Listing Department, Tony is an expert in the listing of debt and derivative securities and investment funds on the Irish Stock Exchange. Tony is the Chair of the AIFMD Working Group of Irish Funds, the Irish funds industry association.
Éamon Ó Cuív

Éamon Ó Cuív

Éamon advises clients on a wide range of finance matters including debt capital markets, structured finance, securitisation and corporate lending transactions for financial institutions, alternative lenders, non-financial corporates and state-owned entities. Éamon has also been a lead adviser on many of the key landmark green and sustainable finance initiatives in Ireland over the past few years, including the issuance of Ireland’s first Green Bond in 2018 and a number of green and sustainability linked loans and private placements.
Éamon Ó Cúiv

Éamon Ó Cúiv

Éamon advises clients on a wide range of financing transactions, including debt capital markets (public and private), structured finance, securitisation, corporate lending, infrastructure finance and green finance.  Éamon has extensive experience in advising State bodies and semi-state entities over many years and has been involved in many of the key green and sustainable finance initiatives in Ireland over the past number of years.  Éamon also has extensive experience in the financing of the development and acquisition of a wide range of infrastructure assets including renewable energy, gas transmission and distribution, and water assets.