Millar McCall Wylie LLP

Millar McCall Wylie is one of the leading law firms in Northern Ireland, with a particular reputation for media and entertainment law and media finance law, for which it is considered a ‘go to’ firm.

The firm: Millar McCall Wylie was founded in 1997, and has rapidly expanded, with two offices in Belfast. Since 2015 eight new solicitors have been recruited to enable the firm to service its ever-expanding market share of commercial legal work in Northern Ireland.

Established with the ethos of being vibrant and well able to respond to clients’ needs with a refreshing, straightforward and practical approach, MMW is personable and communicative to the individuals who instruct it and constructive in dealing with colleagues in the profession. All this, while maintaining respect for clients’ time and dealings.

Media and entertainment law and media finance law are particularly niche areas in Northern Ireland and the firm dominates these markets for local and multinational clients, with major media television projects under its belt. Other particularly strong areas include employment law, corporate and M&A and commercial property, all of which have grown rapidly in the past two years, and the firm anticipates further growth across all areas, particularly as the Irish economy continues to recover from the legacy of the financial crash of 2008.

Types of work undertaken
Corporate and M&A: the department has seen a marked increase in the quantity and value of its transactional work in the past year and has recruited to meet demand. It has an established reputation for advising clients in relation to M&As and corporate restructuring, and has a growing reputation acting in inward investment transactions.

Commercial property: the team has earned a considerable market share of retail work in Northern Ireland and acts for local, national and international investors in the acquisition and disposal of real estate. The firm continues to win new high-profile clients in a re-emerging real estate market.

Dispute resolution: the team acts for both plaintiffs and defendants in all areas of commercial litigation at High Court and county court level. With qualified mediators, the team has expertise in ADR. The department has considerable recent experience in director disqualification and banking litigation actions.

Employment: the employment team acts for a considerable number of local and national employers in contentious and non-contentious matters. It provides support to the corporate and insolvency teams on all employment aspects of transactions.

Energy: the firm acts for a number of established energy suppliers and providers on regulatory, property, corporate, planning and contentious matters. It also advises businesses and landowners who are moving into renewable energy markets.

Finance: the firm acts for a number of local and national lenders in all aspects of secured and unsecured lending. In addition the team continues to advise lenders and borrowers alike on the implication and realisation of existing security.

Insolvency: the firm advises on all aspects of insolvency law and procedure, as well as corporate recovery and restructuring. It acts for receivers and administrators in enforcement of security and realisation of assets.

Media and entertainment: the firm has a pre-eminent film and television development and production team in Northern Ireland, having represented the Northern Ireland Screen Commission for over a decade on hundreds of feature films, television, regional language, digital media and website development, production and funding projects. The team’s clients range from local independent film, television and theatre producers to multinational and mass-media corporations. Millar McCall Wylie recently worked on contracts for Game of Thrones series 7 and The Lodge, to name just two recently completed projects.

Private client: MMW’s department head is a chartered tax advisor and offers specialist advice to high-net-worth clients and accountants in relation to trusts, tax planning and wills.