Mason Hayes & Curran LLP applies significant resources and expertise to non-contentious and contentious matters. The breadth of its contentious practice covers medical negligence, personal injury, aviation, product liability, professional indemnity, data breach litigation, and construction cases, among others. It acts for a range of domestic and international insurers and reinsurers, along with the State Claims Agency. Led by Liam Flynn, the non-contentious team has worked on a series of insurance business asset sales, investigations, corporate governance and regulatory issues. Rachel Kavanagh leads the insurance and risk (disputes) group and has an excellent record in cases across the insurance sphere, including personal injury claims, property damage claims and product liability. Deirdre Munnelly is noted for defending clients against public and employer’s liability, motor and product liability claims. The senior bench is backed by a highly-rated group of associates.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The team itself is lead by a very experienced individual in Rachel Kavanagh. Rachel encourages and empowers the people on her team. It always strikes me that Rachel has surrounded herself with smart people so they don’t have to be told how to do their job. The members of the team are encouraged and empowered to think and perform independently. Because of that the team functions extremely effectively.’
‘The main individuals I engage with are Rachel Kavanagh, Laura Prenderville, Sarah Burns and Jill Valentine. I couldn’t speak more highly of each of them. Rachel is extremely experienced and is always seemingly available to discuss cases with the people under her direction. She is, to be frank, an absolute rock of sense, extremely practical and invested on behalf of her clients. Laura is a brilliant operator. She is highly intelligent and efficient. She has a great way with the clients who engage with her and is patient and considerate with them. Recently I watched her engage first hand with a client from another jurisdiction and engaged patiently until the client's concerns were elaborated by them in their entirety and to the client’s satisfaction, which was very impressive to observe when dealing with a language barrier and complex international litigation.'
'Sarah Burns has a brilliant way with clients and dealing with people when they are in naturally stressful scenarios. Her assured presence puts clients at their ease. She is always available to talk about cases and is a very clear and concise communicator. Jill Valentine is an independent thinker who is brilliant to work with as she will often have thought of an element of a case I wouldn’t have appreciated. Jill is also very efficient and effective in what she does. I could not recommend this group of people and team to any prospective client.’
‘Rachel Kavanagh is truly outstanding. Totally on top of her clients needs, her case load, shrewd, practical, great in negotiation and at trial, one of the best, if not the best partner in this area. Deirdre Munnelly, Laura Prendiville, David Culleton are part of a very efficient team who have a super attitude. Rachel Kavanagh is a great leader.’
‘The combination of Deirdre Munnelly's experience, attention to detail and her legal knowledge and ability make her an exceptional lawyer. Deirdre consistently achieves excellent results for her clients. Richard Hogan's skill in identifying and probing the pertinent facts of a case is exceptional. Richard's industry sector and jurisdiction knowledge is excellent. The quality of his responsiveness and his communication skills stand out above his peers.’
‘I work with Laura Prendiville. Laura is extremely knowledgeable and always makes herself available to assist when asked. Laura takes a pragmatic approach. She provides very clear advice and direction on files. It is a pleasure to work with Laura.’
‘Liam Flynn is a unique lawyer in the Irish market. He brings years of London market experience, in-house insights and a strong private practice background. There is no better insurance lawyer in the Irish market.’
‘The team are experienced, diverse, committed, collegiate and their informed commentaries provide insight that is essential for strategic planning at executive and Board level. Their combined knowledge base is vast, wide-reaching and global and the customer is always king. They find a solution no matter what the problem or the tight timescale and they always deliver on their promise and on time. They have key strengths in risk, product development, governance, competition law and financial regulation. The only insurance practice in Ireland to provide a full-service offering, with a leading insurance regulatory and advisory practice combined with an award winning insurance claims team. Key capability in sustainable finance regulation.’
Key clients
- AIG
- Allianz
- Aon Claims Management
- Chubb Insurance
- Davies Ireland
- HDI Global
- State Claims Agency
- Zurich Insurance Plc
- Zurich UK
- Companjon Insurance DAC
- Aviva PLC
- AXA Group
- UniPol Re DAC
- Cmutual Insurance/Peopl Insurance
Work highlights
- Advised AXA Life Europe DAC on a Central Bank of Ireland regulatory enforcement procedure that concluded in settlement and payment of a €3.6m fine in December 2022.
- Advised Ulster Bank Ireland DAC on the sale of its life and pensions and general insurance distribution businesses to Irish Life and Aviva Insurance, respectively, in 2022 as part of its phased exit from the Irish financial services market.
- Advised CDB Aviation Lease Finance DAC on multi-million-euro insurance claims against London and international insurers relating to the loss of aircraft due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Lawyers
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Liam Flynn, Rachel Kavanagh