The Legal 500

Arthur Cox has a leading banking practice, with a team of four first-rate, ‘highly skilled‘ partners including Angus Creed (‘extremely thorough‘) and Judith Brown (‘pragmatic‘). It recently acted for Ulster Bank in its financing of the acquisition by the Tayto/Golden Wonder Group of Redmill Snack Foods. New clients include Zurich Bank and Volkswagen Bank. Andrew McCluggage also garners praise from clients.

John McKee & Son is a recognised presence in the market. Recent transactions include acting for Ulster Bank Group on its funding of a major new commercial and residential development at Titanic Quarter in Belfast, and acting for a syndicate of Asia-Pacific Banks on the acquisition of a local company. Leading light Avril McCammon is ‘committed to getting the deal over the line for her clients‘.

L’Estrange & Brett has a ‘strong team that always dispenses appropriate advice‘; it includes Sinéad McGrath, who is held in the ‘highest regard by clients‘, and Richard Gray, who is also recommended. The focus is on high-end work, including regulatory work, and the team is also noted for its work in the RSL sector. Clients include Barclays Bank and Deutsche Bank.

A&L Goodbody Northern Ireland has a mainly bank-led practice, and is noted for its ability to handle transactions with a cross-border dimension. It has extensive experience in securitisation, and recently acted for Allied Irish Bank (UK) in the securitisation of a portfolio of its residential mortgages. Peter Stafford is recommended.

C & H Jefferson acts for four of the main banks operating in Northern Ireland. Recent work includes acting for several banks on the Northern Ireland security aspects of shopping centre transactions in England and Scotland involving Northern Ireland borrowers. The experienced Mark Tinman is ‘sensible and commercial‘.

Carson McDowell is ‘definitely a hit‘ and ‘on the up‘, with Tom Adair offering ‘viable solutions where a problem arises‘. The team represents a mixture of borrower and banking clients, and recently acted for Bank of Ireland in relation to loan facilities for Northern Ireland Co-Ownership Housing Association.

Clients have ‘absolute confidence‘ in Cleaver Fulton Rankin. Acquisition financing and the financing of distressed disposals constitute a significant part of the practice, and the team regularly acts on securitisation and warehousing transactions for clients such as Britannia Building Society and Nationwide Building Society. Stephen Cross heads the team.

At Elliott Duffy Garrett corporate partner Kevin McVeigh represents a number of local and international banks on secured lending, project finance and regulatory matters. Laurence Mahood is experienced on the property finance side.

McKinty and Wright has a fine reputation for banking work. It has assisted leading City of London firms on corporate finance matters, and has also acted for a number of major local and national institutions on taking security over commercial property. Gordon Greenfield and Carol Scobbie are the key contacts.

Tughans has a ‘professional team with a high degree of knowledge and commerciality‘, with Fearghal O’Loan a leading figure in the market. Clients include Ulster Bank and Bank of Ireland, and it recently advised Europarts Motor Factors on the refinancing and restructuring of the group’s debt funding and security package. The team is also active in securitisation.

At Johns Elliot Steven Cockcroft oversees a team whose recent work includes advising Northern Bank on various aspects of secured lending on commercial and residential properties. It ‘mixes a high level of professionalism and expertise with humour and humanity‘.

McGrigors Belfast LLP draws on the significant expertise available in the firm’s Scottish and English offices to advise on asset finance, project finance and real estate development.

Mills Selig’s commercial property team advises on issues including the taking and granting of security. Bill McCann is the principal contact partner.

Cleaver Fulton Rankin has a premier practice and is regularly seen on the administrator side; it advised the administrators of the Taggart Group (the largest administration in Northern Ireland in 2008). Michael Neill is ‘professional and courteous‘, and recently advised the major creditors of Thermomax (in administration). The firm has also advised in relation to numerous personal insolvencies.

Brigid Napier and John Gordon at Napier and Sons are both experienced licensed insolvency practitioners. The firm increasingly has a focus on personal insolvency work involving all types of businesses: sole traders, partnerships and companies.

Carson McDowell acts for liquidators and receivers, providing the full spectrum of insolvency and corporate rescue advice; it recently advised the liquidators of Emerging Business Trust and Scott Electromech. David Jamison heads the team and is noted as ‘not creating difficulties unnecessarily‘.

ElliottDuffy Garrett’s Michael Wilson is a licensed insolvency practitioner and has considerable expertise in advising on business recovery issues.

John McKee & Son handles personal insolvency and corporate restructuring work, through Lex Ross. Experience includes voluntary and involuntary liquidations, schemes of arrangement, and creditors’ rights on insolvency.

L’Estrange & Brett has the ‘knowledgeable‘ Kieran McGarrigle. The team is currently assisting a number of lenders with ‘intensive care‘ programmes for distressed borrowers, and is seeing more instructions from insolvency practitioners in formal insolvencies. It was instructed by the administrator of the Presbyterian Mutual Society.

Tughans’ team includes Michael McCord, whose ‘response times are very good‘, and James Pringle, who in a major coup joined the team from Johns Elliot. The team is acting for a body of directors in a challenge against the appointment of administrators to their company.

Arthur Cox acted for Ulster Bank and Bank of Ireland in relation to the administration of Taggart Holdings, with Angus Creed leading on the multi-jurisdictional element of the instruction from Belfast. Catriona Gibson handles insolvency-related disputes as part of her banking litigation practice, and is admired for her ‘clarity of thought and excellent response times‘.

C & H Jefferson has a good reputation for insolvency matters, regularly advising on individual and corporate voluntary arrangements, administrations, receiverships, bankruptcies and liquidations. It acts for a range of insolvency practitioners, banks and other financial institutions.

Mills Selig handles some individual and corporate insolvency work. John Kearns is the contact partner.