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Northern Ireland is a separate legal jurisdiction from the rest of the UK. It has 18 MPs in Westminster, and a devolved government within the UK, led by the Northern Ireland Executive and the 108-member Northern Ireland Assembly.

Northern Ireland’s corporate finance market continues to prove challenging, with banks in distress and continuing to feel the cross-border effects of the National Asset Management Agency Act 2009; their reluctance to make traditional lending or undertake their former role as quasi-private equity lenders is hindering the development or expansion of local companies, and this is having a knock-on effect on law firms. Major corporate transactions predominantly involve foreign companies acquiring Northern Ireland companies and wind farm interests; the latter is a burgeoning area thanks to generous energy credits in renewables and the privatisation of wind assets by the Republic of Ireland. There has also been notable activity from US-based purchasers of local technology businesses, and the market is seeing some significant cross-border work in the telecoms sector.

The government is encouraging inward investment and local business initiatives, and is trying to develop a ‘knowledge economy’. For example, economic development agencies are creating IP competence centres based on the European G7 model, and it is expected that the number of these will increase. In the interim, with little fresh investment in IP, the market is increasingly protectionist, with companies becoming more willing to enforce their rights through litigation. Similarly, though there are a number of IT projects being procured, tenders are not immune to challenges in the courts, and this has become a very litigious area.

Banks are also increasingly litigious, enforcing their security interests and insolvency processes. At the time of writing, the property teams at Bank of Ireland and Bank of Scotland are running panels in this regard, as banks with Northern Ireland interests look to package up property debt to sell to institutional investors in an effort to recover losses.

The High Court has a significant backlog of cases, and the increasing propensity towards litigation together with a shortage of judges is causing delays and multiple adjournments in some matters. There are two imminent judicial appointments, with others rumoured. In the area of commercial litigation, there is increasing support for the use of ADR, particularly mediation.

Resonating across many practice areas covered in this chapter is the sinking of Seán Quinn, the former richest man in Northern Ireland, who has entered into voluntary bankruptcy with the Quinn Group of companies entering into a CVA and being restructured. Seán Quinn is represented by Napier and Sons, while other law firms involved include Tughans, which has been representing Irish Bank Resolution Corporation in related litigation; A&L Goodbody Northern Ireland, which drafted the CVA for Quinn Group and is representing it in various other matters; Arthur Cox, which is acting for Barclays Bank as agent for a syndicate of banks in connection with the Quinn Group restructuring; Cleaver Fulton Rankin, which is advising Invest NI in relation to the administration of Quinn Insurance Limited; and Carson McDowell, which is acting for the administrator of Quinn Insurance Limited in relation to the separation and sale of the Slieve Rushen wind farm.

April 2012 marked the centenary of the maiden voyage and sinking of the RMS Titanic. There have been a number of related transactions, initiatives, and investments in the Titanic Quarter and Titanic Signature Project, and the tourism focus looks set to provide a much-needed boost to the province’s economy.

In terms of cross-border capabilities among the regional heavyweights, A&L Goodbody Northern Ireland and Arthur Cox, who also have offices in the US, trade on an ‘all-island’ offering, while Carson McDowell, Cleaver Fulton Rankin, and Tughans maintain strategic alliances with Dublin-based firms: Mason Hayes & Curran, Matheson Ormsby Prentice, and William Fry respectively.

McGrigors LLP, including its Belfast office, merged with Pinsent Masons LLP in May 2012, marking the latter firm’s first foray into the Northern Ireland market.

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