Ciaran O'Shiel > A&L Goodbody Northern Ireland LLP > Belfast, United Kingdom > Lawyer Profile

A&L Goodbody Northern Ireland LLP
42-46 FOUNTAIN STREET
BELFAST
BT1 5EF
United Kingdom
Ciaran O'Shiel photo

Work Department

Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Position

Partner

Career

Ciaran O’Shiel is a partner in A&L Goodbody’s Commercial Litigation department in Belfast. He specialises in intellectual property, media and technology disputes advising domestic and international clients on defamation, privacy, data protection and content related matters.

Ciaran has acted for technology and media companies in the High Court and Court of Appeal and has an extensive intellectual property practice having represented clients in patent, copyright, breach of confidence, trademark infringement and passing off cases.

His experience also includes advising private and public organisations on business critical issues such as reputation management, regulatory risk and responding to data security incidents.

Experience Advising:
  • Publishers, broadcasters and intermediaries across a range of issues including applications for injunctive relief, reporting restrictions, production orders, applications for Norwich Pharmacal relief and jurisdiction challenges.
  • A public limited company and its subsidiaries in relation to group action proceedings involving thousands of data protection and privacy claims following a highly sophisticated cyber-security attack.
  • An international news organisation in the successful defence of a privacy and data protection based injunction before the High Court and Court of Appeal.
  • A multinational technology company in relation to High Court proceedings for online defamation and breach of data protection legislation involving safe harbour defences under the E-Commerce Directive.
  • A luxury goods brand owner in relation to trademark infringement and passing off proceedings in the Commercial Court arising from the importation of counterfeit goods.
  • Other recent experience includes advising on cyber incident response, regulatory investigations and complex information access requests under GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Memberships

Ciaran is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and a contributor to the London Media Law Blog, Inforrm.

Education

  • Solicitor, Law Society of Northern Ireland
  • LLM, Law & International Commerce, Queens University Belfast
  • LLB, Law, Queens University Belfast

Lawyer Rankings

Northern Ireland > TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property

The commercial and technology team at A&L Goodbody Northern Ireland LLP is well regarded for acting on contentious IP matters for large technology companies. The all-Ireland firm is often instructed by London firms on complex matters, such as jurisdictional challenges on regarding trademark infringements. Ciaran O’Shiel leads on contentious cases while Mark Thompson leads on the non-contentious work. O’Shiel has strong experience in acting on complex patent litigations and trademark infringements at the High Court. Thompson is an expert on advising on research and collaboration agreements in various sectors. Senior associate Ronan Marlow provides support on a great deal of O’Shiel’s matters, including many High Court proceedings involving trademark infringements. Associate Caroline Price is another individual to note.

Northern Ireland > TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > IT and telecoms

(Next Generation Partners)

Ciaran O’ShielA&L Goodbody Northern Ireland LLP

The commercial and technology team at A&L Goodbody Northern Ireland LLP is well-equipped to handle technology-related litigations which are high value, sensitive, and cross jurisdictional in nature. The team is jointly led by Brendan Fox and Mark Thompson. Fox heads the litigation services, while Thompson leads the non-contentious side, where he assists clients in drafting IT technical agreements, including end user licence agreements for both the UK and EEA markets. Also on the contentious side, Ciaran O’Shiel is well versed in advising on defamation, privacy, and data protection matters. Senior associate Keith Dunn often provides support in drafting and negotiating contracts.