Construction in Ireland

‘Having worked in a law firm and with other construction teams I can safely say that ALG’s team is the best out there. The standard of the lawyers is above any I have seen. They know their practice area inside out and are acutely familiar with the nuances of the market.’

‘I worked with Jamie Rattigan recently on a very long and difficult funding deal. Jamie was exceptional. His ability to analyse and work through complex legal drafting is second to none. Jamie at all times tries to see the bigger picture and views everything through a commercial prism. He knows our business very well and as a result knows how to strategically advise us.’

‘Excellent turn around times. Pragmatic and sensible advice.

‘The very personal approach is the driving characteristic that sets this team apart from others.’

‘Strong team within the construction practice with good market experience. Well resourced. Consistent views from partners and associates.’

‘Good market level experience as they work for both developers and banks.’

‘The construction team at Arthur Cox continue to provide timely, commercially focused and relevant advices across our range of matters. They are always at the end of the phone and provide terrific support both in terms of dispute mitigation and resolution.’

‘Karen Killoran is widely respected as being a readily available practitioner who is familiar with the client organisation’s risk appetite and who can deliver pragmatic advice.’

‘Their strength lies in their vast experience and commercial mindset. They provide practical solutions and alternative ways of doing things. Very good collaboration with other practice areas such as property and procurement to ensure that the context of the advice sought is accurate.’

‘Niav O’Higgins is an exceptional lawyer and an amazing individual. At the top of her game, builds trust quickly and is very personable. Commercial mindset, very practical and sees around corners. Talented at explaining complex matters in plain English, which is much appreciated. Sinead Flanagan is very good.’

‘The team is easy to approach and very friendly. When it comes to the workload it is fast and efficient – a perfect combination.’

‘Karen Killoran and Ciara Dooley are proactive and give sensible solutions to issues that arise. Took the time to know and understand our team and what is important to us as a business.’

‘The team at MHC are a pleasure to work with. Always responsive, always willing to help out and give us the best advice.’

‘Shane Dolan and Paul Bassett on the construction team stand out for their consistent, down-to-earth approach to problems and negotiations. Construction is a people business and these two guys stand out to me in how they handle both clients and opposing law firms.’

‘The MHC construction practice consistently provide excellent, relevant and pragmatic advice. They are extremely adept at quickly distilling the key issues in very complex disputes and offer straightforward guidance and solutions which are aligned with the client’s core needs.’

‘Rory Kirrane is a pleasure to work with. His in-depth knowledge of this area of law is evident and instils immediate confidence in the advice provided. He is particularly skillful when it comes to providing strategic advice on contentious matters, understands the client’s priorities and guides the client in a sensible and efficient manner. Hannah Devoy is also excellent to work with and consistently demonstrates a thorough understanding of construction law. She offers clear, pragmatic advice which is cognisant of client requirements and time pressures.’

‘As a foreign attorney I very much appreciate Susan Bryson’s ability to explain how procedures work and her ability to make the client deeply aware of the possible consequences of any action taken or decision made.’

‘The go-to team when entering the Irish market. Very efficient, knowledgeable and extremely good quality from the whole team. Able to create solutions fast and spot the key risks. They have also helped to come up with new creative solutions when needed. Deliver crystal-clear advice also to clients like me who are from abroad and a different legal system.’

‘Rory Kirrane is probably the best lawyer I have met. He is extremely knowledgeable and clever, easy to approach, able to give clear advice fast and cost efficiently, and extremely commercially minded. He is able to deliver superb value for the work done, and gets straight to the point of the relevant matters without any nonsense. Anne McCarthy has also been a highly valued team player; she delivers excellent results and is always available when needed.’

‘I found Eoin Cassidy extremely easy to deal with and I liked the fact that although he is a partner in the firm he took charge of being the point of contact. It made my life as a general counsel a lot easier and streamlined the communications. In addition, Eoin seemed to be able to quickly understand the queries raised and the type of response required to fully resolve the issues, no matter how complex they were.’

‘McCann Fitzgerald offer a very good holistic service across all areas of development from planning consultancy to site acquisition, construction contracts, professional appointments and dispute resolution. They are a very collegiate and forward-thinking practice, and extremely solution orientated.’

‘Barrett Chapman has been our main contact for many years, but the team who work with him have also demonstrated the company’s ability to achieve a very reliable and consistent level of service. Where we have used other firms occasionally, we have found they often review a contract on our behalf and just give options for how to respond. The McCann Fitzgerald team have always given good, strong advice to help us in negotiations.’

‘What stands out is their desire and focus on getting the best outcome for their client. You get input from the lead partners, not just their presence. The team’s capabilities include a broad range of specialities and an in-depth knowledge of the construction industry. They value relationships and take care to maintain them.’

‘Barrett Chapman is a leader in this field. The respect that he commands is very well deserved. He is commercial, succinct and able to condense complicated scenarios into easy-to-implement strategies. Jamie McGee is a rising star. He is a pleasure to work with and talented in this field.’

‘A very solid team all round, headed by a widely experienced and highly respected partner grouping. The construction practice has built up its team across all levels of seniority and invested heavily in recruiting rising stars in the last couple of years to the benefit of its clients in terms of responsiveness and fee management.’

‘Jamie McGee is a very approachable, logical, pragmatic and open individual with a friendly personality, making it very easy to discuss issues and agree on a suitable way forward.’

‘Stephen Proctor is very pragmatic and will always look for a solution to any perceived difficulty in legal agreements.’

‘Kevin Kelly is excellent.’

‘I found the team extremely knowledgeable, with an understanding of how to appropriately and commercially apply statutory frameworks and allocate risk between the client and the contractor. The team were diligent and thorough throughout, taking an active role in driving all parties to a conclusion on key elements. They were friendly and fun to work with – totally user-friendly. This has been an excellent, successful and smooth experience for all those involved, due to the rigour delivered by the William Fry team throughout.’

‘My primary point of contact has been Cassandra Byrne. I have been a client of a number of top-tier UK law firms and this has been my best experience of working in partnership, by far. Cassandra took extra effort to explain the appropriate Irish contractual forms, examining similarities, differences and consequential risks between these and other construction standard forms. Cassandra’s influence and rapport helped smooth the relationship with the contractor and her strategic perspective helped situate our work within the framework of a related real estate transaction.’

‘The team’s expert knowledge of construction with respect to contracts and its strategic approach in the context of challenging scenarios has provided us with an excellent specialist service. The ability to get to heart of an issue quickly, fully understand it and set out a clear pathway to an effective outcome is also a key strength.’

‘Jarlath Heneghan always provides a clear pathway to overcome significant issues and does so with notable effectiveness. This is a combination of unique ability, experience and highly focused determination to achieve the optimal outcome for his clients as part of a high-quality service. Cassandra Byrne is highly responsive to clients’ needs. Her contractual knowledge and ability has given us, as the client, great confidence in her approach, which ultimately has delivered the results and outcomes that we sought. We can recommend both Jarleth and Cassandra without reservation.’

‘William Fry have great experience and expertise in big construction projects in the Irish market and are good at explaining the issues in layman’s terms.’

‘Jarleth Heneghan is very easy to talk to, and good at providing explanations and helping clients to understand why the paperwork is important, as well as helping with negotiation strategy.’

‘Liam McCabe shows enthusiasm and commitment to the client and the work being undertaken, professionalism at all times, responsiveness, and knowledge of the industry and subject matter.’

‘We value their attention to detail and understanding of the ever-changing regulatory environment. They have the ability to react quickly to events and to stick with the issue until it is satisfactorily resolved. I would like to show particular gratitude to Jarleth Heneghan and Cassandra Byrne for their assistance.’

‘Martin Cooney and his team provide concise detailed advice on any manner of complex issues in a remarkably quick manner. Whether it be a contentious issue on a difficult project or the best procurement and contractual path to undertake for a building or engineering project, they have the right answer.’

‘Martin Cooney is a classic all-rounder, a master of the construction process from the inception of the project to the tender stage, construction stage and, if required, the dispute stage. His deep knowledge of the industry and the many pitfalls and risks that parties must navigate is always impressive. His clarity of advice merits special mention. No less capable is Deirdre Hennessy, whose ability to get to grips with any commercial or contractual problem speedily is remarkable.’

‘I believe the construction practice at ByrneWallace have on numerous matters demonstrated a real commercial awareness and in-depth knowledge of the construction sector. These qualities combined with their proactive approach are unique and of fundamental importance to my department.’

‘Martin Cooney is a highly knowledgeable lawyer with an excellent understanding of the development and construction sector. He demonstrates significant expertise in transactional matters, drafting and negotiating a wide range of contracts. Deirdre Hennessy is extremely knowledgeable and has continuously demonstrated her extensive experience as a highly competent and skilful contentious lawyer. Lisa Maloney is an extremely focused lawyer who has continuously demonstrated significant expertise in both contentious and non-contentious matters.’

‘Martin Cooney is tenacious, sensible and very client focused.’

‘The partners and associates are extremely friendly and make themselves available whenever needed. They have an in-depth knowledge of their individual specialisms and work very hard on your behalf to achieve the optimal outcome.’

‘Martin Cooney and Lisa Maloney are the standout people for us. Their combined legal skills and deep knowledge of construction contracts and practice make them a formidable team, the best we have engaged with in fact. We wouldn’t go anywhere else.’

‘The most impressive characteristic of the Byrne Wallace team, and in particular Martin Cooney and Deirdre Hennessy, is the breadth of experience they bring to the table. They clearly have the most up-to-date information and case law available, and the ability of Martin and his team to grasp the relevant facts of a dispute is excellent. The subsequent advice provided is clear and concise.’

‘An experienced team with different areas of expertise, delivering a coherent service and advice.’

‘Good, flexible sparring partners. Well connected in the sector. Understand both the legal as well as the commercial considerations.’

‘A very experienced and qualified team that has significant experience in all construction matters. The team has a great mix of senior and junior individuals and has a strong relationship with Matheson’s real estate team to ensure continuity and consistency across instructions.’

‘Kimberley Masuda is a superbly commercial and diligent partner who makes the time for her clients on a large and small instructions. Kimberley is a qualified architect and it really shows in her knowledge of construction contracts and construction risk-related matters.’

‘We have always considered Matheson to be best in class for all real estate and construction matters in Ireland. They have an incredible range and depth of expertise in their teams and they always provide comprehensive, coherent and considered legal advice and have never been afraid to provide commercial and practical guidance whenever requested. Some of their key strengths are the quality of their advice and their in-depth knowledge of our business and the issues they know are important to us. We have never had an issue with Matheson on fees or budget. They always provide incredibly comprehensive and well-thought-through fee quotes and have always been very willing to discuss and address any budget delivery queries that we may have.’

‘Rhona Henry is an industry expert in all things construction related and we work very closely with Kimberley Masuda on a number of our large-scale construction projects in Dublin. Both Rhona and Kimberley are excellent lawyers and have an innate ability to condense incredibly complex and contentious issues into digestible, pragmatic legal and commercial advice.’

‘Excellent personal service.’

‘We value their availability and depth of knowledge.’

‘A very professional, client-focused, results-driven practice.’

‘They provide clear, concise advise on relevant matters without sitting on the fence’

‘Kerri Crossen is very invested in her clients and as such provides a highly personalised service designed to fully meet her client’s needs. Kerri has significant knowledge and expertise and is aware of developments in the construction sector that may need to be factored into the advice provided. She brought a common-sense approach to her advice, which was particularly invaluable during a time when the rule book was changing due to operating in a pandemic. She is responsive and always available, providing thoughtful, well-considered advice that she is sure her clients understand the implications of.’

‘There is direct contact with the principles of the practice at all times, and they manage relationships very well. On top of that they are able to react to situations as they evolve. They have a strength and depth in their partners and the expert services they can provide to react to any given situation that is second to none.’

‘Very competent, each lawyer has their own unique area of expertise and the practice allocates the partners depending on the detail of any given situation, sometimes even allocating two or more different partners to various aspects of the same case if that is the best way of achieving a result.’

‘Hugh Cummins is an excellent lawyer who provides a great service. He has huge knowledge and commercial pragmatism and will spare no effort to get the right solution.’

‘Angelyn Rowan is highly knowledgeable and provides top-class strategic advice on complex construction matters.’

‘Angelyn Rowan is a very capable practitioner.’

‘The firm provides full contentious and non-contentious legal services delivered by a diverse team. When faced with multiple complex legal arguments on a major dispute, the firm was able to mobilise a team of experienced lawyers at short notice to prepare and successfully present rebuttals.’

‘In addition to being competent and confident lawyers, the individuals were approachable and personable and provided us with confidence.’

‘What stands out about the team is their understanding of clients’ needs, quality of advice and efficiency of service. Alison Bearpark provides invaluable advice which combines legal expertise and commercial reality.’

‘Finola McCarthy is incredibly experienced and really understands our business. She always delivers a first-class service to us.’

‘Finola McCarthy’s personable and collegial approach is really effective when managing a large group of diverse stakeholders.’

‘All of our experiences and interactions with Ronan Daly Jermyn have been positive ones for our business. The firm has smart, savvy lawyers who not only have a broad understanding of the sectors they advise on but also a really good commercial acumen and business sense. They understand how the legal issues and advice they give impact on our business and work really hard to fully understand the rationale behind our business decisions. The legal advice is never given in a vacuum and always takes account of the commercial perspective.’

‘Finola McCarthy has a superb grasp of the legal issues in the construction area. She provides us with really solid and well-thought-out advice.’

‘I found Alison Bearpark excellent. She was extremely helpful in explaining complex elements of the contract in understandable terms. Her advice was sound and overall she was very efficient, accessible and responsive.’

‘The team are very strong in this area and very receptive to their clients’ needs. They combine their specialist knowledge with a pragmatic approach to give their clients the best outcome.’

‘Finola MacCarthy is a very wise and experienced construction lawyer. Finola is very easy to deal with and very effective at what she does, combining her specialist skills with a pragmatic approach. Alison Bearpark is very professional and provides an excellent client service.’

‘Great knowledge of current case law in our area of interest and a proactive team.’

‘Margaret Austin is a great team leader with a practical approach.’

‘They have a wealth of experience across a number of team members and there is always someone available for advice.’

‘We recommend Siobhan Kenny and Margaret Austin.’

‘The team have an in-depth knowledge of the construction sector and are very experienced.’

‘Siobhan Kenny is excellent to deal with and very experienced.’

‘The team has been working with our company for some time on construction projects. The team specialise in public works projects. We wouldn’t use anyone else for this work.’

‘Margaret Austin is our main partner contract and she knows the system inside out. She has also been very helpful in assisting with contract disputes. She is always at the end of the line and available to deal with queries and questions. Kevin Sheedy deals with the funding side and his work has been excellent.’

‘As a specialist law firm, Beale & Co have particular expertise in their chosen sectors. They have a strong team locally who possess a very good understanding of professional liability exposure and the particular needs of those operating within the construction industry. They adopt a very collaborative approach and are dedicated to serving their clients’ interests at all times. As disputes become increasingly complex, they have demonstrated an ability to distil the issues and help clients through what can be a difficult and challenging process.’

‘We work closely with Tara Cosgrove, who has a wealth of experience in dispute resolution. Tara has an ability to bring clarity to some complex legal issues and is highly regarded as a very competent, personable and trustworthy solicitor. Sarah Conroy, Killian Dorney and Martin Browne are also very capable solicitors who adopt a sensible and pragmatic approach to litigation. They understand the need to support clients through the litigation process and are always on hand to offer assistance.’

‘Killian Dorney very quickly got to grips with our requirements, was very clear and concise in his recommendations, and worked efficiently with all the specialists in our team. He quickly and concisely set out the information required to enable him to develop and present our case. His cost and time projections were very accurate, and the company billed monthly and with full detail as I requested.’

‘They have a niche offering in the construction sector and are more agile than other larger firms in this sector. The team stands out for its quick response times, availability almost on demand and genuine interest in helping to resolve our issues.’

‘Tara Cosgrove and Sarah Conroy were particularly good. They both displayed a detailed understanding of the construction industry, and were excellent at communicating the legal implications to construction professionals who did not have a legal background and always available when issues arose at short notice.’

‘Very attentive to the concerns being raised and clearly articulate the issues and their potential solution. Killian Dorney is accessible and approachable.’

‘The team at Beale’s Dublin office has provided us with an excellent professional service in the areas of construction-related professional indemnity claims. The strengths of the team include its availability and engagement, appropriate levels of resourcing and overall case management, coupled with the ability to understand complex technical and commercial issues.’

‘Tara Cosgrove, Sarah Conroy, Killian Dorney, Feena Robinson, Niamh Loughran and the rest of the team provided clear legal advice grounded in a deep knowledge and understanding of the construction sector. The individual service provided was always professional and efficient and the team members involved supported and guided us through the legal processes involved.’

‘The team’s local and international experience provides the perfect blend of knowledge for any serious operator in the Irish market.’

‘Jamie Ritchie’s background in construction and his flawless legal knowledge provides the prefect alchemy for astute legal and commercial advice. Ian Lavelle is a particularly astute commercial operator whose focus on the detail provides for the most advantageous outcome in a dispute.’

‘Well connected in the Irish construction market.’

‘Jamie Ritchie is well informed, and one of the rare construction specialists. He does what he says he’ll do.’

‘The quality of work and service received from Jamie Ritchie and his team is second to none. Jamie is a very thorough practitioner and can quickly understand and grasp any of the issues presented to him. He understands the legal and commercial considerations and how they play off against each other to ensure that the desired results are achieved. In addition to the quality of legal advice received, the manner in which he approaches things strikes a great balance between legal professionalism and straightforward communication. He can make complex and sometimes daunting legal matters simple and digestible.’

‘LK Shields have an extremely strong construction practice. I have had the pleasure of instructing them on matters that require input on the law of both Ireland and Northern Ireland and have worked with their team seamlessly.’

‘Jamie Ritchie is outstanding and my go-to Irish construction lawyer. His depth of knowledge and passion for the topic is second to none.’

‘First class. Jamie Ritchie is approachable, intelligent and will fight, holding back no punches, to get results for his clients.’