Ireland > Legal market overview
As Ireland’s government grappled with being the first eurozone country to agree a bailout through the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the country’s leading firms had to cope with a stagnant market compounded by economic uncertainty. That said, the bailout has given impetus to the more flexible and focused practices to exploit emerging opportunities. Additionally, the International Monetary Fund predicts that Ireland will achieve a modest acceleration to 1.5% GDP growth in 2012.
Domestic M&A generally remains subdued, but there is increasing interest from international investors in the technology, pharmaceuticals and food sectors. Economic circumstances have prompted a flood of disputes, keeping most firms busy with instructions ranging from the highest profile Commercial Court proceedings to individual claims. In a similar vein, employment law has been very much at the forefront of all law firms’ work in Ireland as a result of companies and individuals requiring advice on sensitive employment matters arising from the recession.
The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) is still unravelling the billions of euros worth of bad debt that it has bought up and the disposals process has begun, giving a line of work to the many firms on the panel. The wider outlook for the real estate market is fairly bleak and, again, the focus has been on the contentious side.
The alternative investment market remains a stalwart source of work in Ireland with offshore funds increasingly ‘onshoring’ their products to take advantage of the lower corporate tax rates and a better regulated market. Both Dechert LLP and Walkers have started to establish local practices with launches in Dublin. Walkers turned to domestic firms Matheson Ormsby Prentice and William Fry for a series of eye-catching hires, and Maples and Calder recruited Stephen Carty from Eversheds. It seems unlikely that there will be any more new international entrants into an already overcrowded Dublin.
Other than the offshore firms and new entrants, senior moves have been rare. Standout moves included A&L Goodbody’s recruitment of employment law expert Duncan Inverarity from ByrneWallace and healthcare expert Aisling Gannon taking a team from Beauchamps Solicitors to Eversheds.