
William Fry LLP has an evenly balanced practice with strength in both healthcare and life sciences. It remains active in clinical, professional and product liability claims before all courts, along with patent litigation and product liability disputes in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device sectors. It has an established team in the life sciences regulatory sphere and an outstanding record in life sciences M&A (including headline cross-border transactions) and commercial work. Laura Scott heads the life sciences team and is a leader in patent disputes, with Charleen O’Keeffe and Colette Brady also having extensive experience in the area. Margaret Muldowney and Fiona Barry are experienced figures in clinical negligence and Mary Cooney is noted for product liability cases.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Efficient, responsive and empathetic.’
‘Mary Cooney is exceptional. She has been dealing with a complex, long drawn out series of medicolegal challenges, both civil and criminal. Her advice has been wise, knowledgeable, proactive and empathetic. She has always been prompt in response to my concerns and always available.'
‘William Fry is the go-to law firm for us when making investments in Ireland.’
‘Margaret Muldowney - fearless and tough, with considerable intelligence and deep insight. A steel hand in a velvet glove. Mary Cooney - smart, able, active, and strong. Great fun, while achieving great results. Barry Murphy - a tower of intelligence and insight, strength and hard work. All accomplished with humour and kindness.’
‘William Fry's attention to detail and forensic analysis of very complex cases is exceptional. Another stand out strength and key capability is their ability to advise clients in a manner that is concise and germane to the relevant issues.’
‘Margaret Muldowney, Mary Cooney and Barry Murphy collaborate very well together, which collaboration translates into excellent service for clients. A standout feature from competitors is their ability to promptly devise a strategy by which they can achieve their client's needs.’
‘William Fry is the stand-out firm for life-science work in Dublin with major-multinational client companies testifying to their all round abilities, knowledge and client care. ’
‘William Fry have an exceptionally talented team of individuals and Laura Scott is head and shoulders above her peers at other firms in Dublin; for good reason as she is second to none when it comes to patent litigation in Ireland with superb communication skills, knowledge base and determination to secure the best outcome for her clients. ’
Key clients
- Clinical Pathology Laboratories
- Bayer
- Moderna
- Eli Lilly
- AstraZeneca
- Boehringer Ingelheim
- Bayer Cropscience
- Amgen
- Edwards Lifesciences
- RCSI
- Medical Protection Society
- Uniphar Plc
Work highlights
- Advised Clinical Pathology Laboratories in well over 100 professional negligence claims, which continue to be brought against the screening programme and contracted laboratories.
- Acted for Bayer in defence of patent revocation proceedings brought by Sandoz and its Irish subsidiary Rowex concerning a dosage patent in respect of the compound rivaroxaban.
- Advised Beacon Medical Holdings & Sayum Holdings Corporation on the sale of Beacon Medical Group Sandyford, Okinawa and Beacon Blackthorn to Macquarie Asset Management
Lawyers


Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Margaret Muldowney, Laura Scott