Europe - Ireland
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Insolvency and corporate restructuring

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Byrne Wallace Shields

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Byrne Wallace Shields, formed as a result of the merger between legacy firms ByrneWallace LLP and LK Shields Solicitors LLP in early 2025, brings together a team that has experience of examinerships, schemes of arrangement, small companies administrative rescue procedures (SCARPs) and informal debt restructuring. It also continues to advise a number of private equity houses in the NPL segment, including NPL workouts and receivership litigation. John Fitzgerald is a prominent name in the field, while of counsel Sean Neville has a background in advising banks and private equity clients on secured debt enforcement and receivership litigation. Jill Callanan has an extensive record in insolvency cases and Clare Dowling is noted for liquidations, examinerships and receiverships.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Sean Neville - ability to give clear advice and guidance on complex issues. Strong team around him to deliver within very tight timescales. Able to communicate in layman terms when required. Excellent sounding board for a complex matter with a very commercial outlook.'

  • ‘The firm and in particular, Sean Neville, are willing to go above and beyond to meet client needs. Sean is strong and forthright in his advices. He devises solutions to problems and whilst he takes into account the commercial interest of a client, it will not affect the advices given.’

  • ‘John Fitzgerald would be a stand-out partner. John is very experienced and extremely helpful. John is responsive on emails and always takes the time for a call if requested. John also follows up to ensure everything is in order even when not requested.’

  • ‘An extremely well organised team of professionals who listen carefully and grasp the key issues quickly. Having identified the key points, advice is given in an unequivocal manner, quickly and confidently. Team availability and engagement from lead partner to associates is simply outstanding. From a client perspective, there is the comfort of knowing you are dealing with a group of individuals whose professional knowledge is beyond doubt, who provide sound advice without delay in a straightforward manner. Team engagement is exceptional. ’

  • ‘John Fitzgerald leads this group. I found him to be an expert in his field, friendly, approachable, extremely collaborative and most of all hard working and conscientious. John brings a sense of calm to stressful situations by grasping the key issues quickly, and distilling problems into workable solutions with a minimum of fuss. One of his key strengths is his ability to listen and absorb a lot of detail quickly, enabling him to focus in on the kernel of the matter in a very short time frame.'

  • ‘John Fitzgerald is an excellent lawyer, and his intelligence is clear when explaining complex legal issues. He is a clear and calm communicator.’

  • ‘John Fitzgerald brings measure at a very senior level, to right-size client expectations, allay fears and ensure matters progress in the right direction at the right pace.'

  • 'Sean Neville has energy and enthusiasm beyond most of his peers. His dedication to the cases in which he is involved is focused and complete.’

Key clients

  • Deloitte
  • Kirby Healy
  • Interpath Advisory
  • KPMG
  • BDO
  • EY
  • Kroll
  • RBK
  • Ferris & Associates
  • Grant Thornton
  • Pepper Finance Corporation (Ireland) DAC

Work highlights

  • Advised a number of credit unions in relation to trust claims in the insolvent liquidation of Blackbee Investments.
  • Advised Myles Kirby as liquidator to Puratec (Ireland), including asset swelling litigation in the High Court relating to unfair preference and fraudulent dispositions.
  • Advised Kieran Wallace as process advisor to Flender Ireland, availing of the Small Company Administrative Rescue Process (SCARP).

Lawyers

Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

John Fitzgerald

Other key lawyers

Sean Neville, Jill Callanan, Clare Dowling