William Fry LLP

$Gavin O\'Flaherty$

Gavin O\'Flaherty

Gavin is a Partner in William Fry’s Corporate / M&A Department. Gavin’s practice primarily focuses on domestic and global M&A, corporate reorganisations, venture capital and private equity investments. Within his general corporate and M&A practice he advises on strategic M&A mandates with particular sector focus on financial services (to include more particularly insurance companies), agri-food and healthcare companies. Gavin also has particular expertise in advising private equity houses on their investment into or acquisition of Irish corporates and has acted on a number of the largest private equity transactions in and through Ireland over the last number of years.

John is a Partner in William Fry's Asset Management & Investment Funds Department and the Financial Regulation Unit. He specialises in advising on regulated and unregulated fund structures including UCITS, ETFs, hedge funds, real estate, private equity and credit funds. He also advises on the full spectrum of regulatory issues impacting the asset management sector including: licensing, segregated mandates, governance requirements, outsourcing, acquiring transaction clearance, conduct of business issues, client assets and product governance and distribution. John was previously a London based senior lawyer with HSBC Global Asset Management advising on its European fund and managed account offerings and regulatory change projects.

Ivor is the Head of the London Office of William Fry. He is a Corporate Partner with significant transactional expertise in private equity, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and shareholder structuring matters, corporate reorganisations and venture capital/debt. Ivor has particular experience in advising technology clients.

Fiona is a Partner in William Fry’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department and head of our Clinical Advisory Group and Defamation and Media Group. She has special expertise in the defence of medical negligence actions and the representation of medical practitioners in regulatory matters. Fiona also has vast experience of defamation, privacy, social media, product safety and reputation management. In the area of defamation she has unparalleled experience of both pre and post publication for the print and TV sectors. She also holds a qualification in arbitration and is a CEDR accredited mediator.

Colette Brady

Garrett Breen is a Partner and Head of William Fry’s Litigation & Investigations Department, specialising in commercial and regulatory litigation as well as contentious intellectual property issues. He has extensive experience of the Commercial Division of the High Court and various Tribunals of Enquiry, and has prosecuted cases before the European Court of Justice. He has advised sector-specific regulators in Ireland and internationally. He also advises auditors and tax advisors on their statutory obligations and decision-making processes. Garrett has run many anti-counterfeiting campaigns for multinational brand holders. He also advises financial services firms who become subject to the Administrative Sanctions Procedures of the Central Bank.

Richard Breen is a Partner in William Fry's Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department. He advises various institutional, national, multinational, State agencies and private clients in dispute resolution at mediations, arbitrations (domestic and international) and before the Commercial Court, High Court and Circuit Court and at statutory inquiries. His practice areas include:- product liability defence (pharma, tobacco, motor and computer manufacturers); commercial contract and shareholder disputes; property and construction disputes; equine disputes; landlord and tenant disputes; commercial rates and Valuation Tribunal appeals; and maritime/ship arrest.

Lyn is a Partner in William Fry's Banking & Finance Department. Lyn has significant experience in advising global financial institutions, private equity firms and corporate clients on a range of domestic and international financial transactions, with particular expertise in leveraged finance, acquisition financing, financial restructuring and syndicated lending.

Brian Butterwick

Brian is a Partner in William Fry's Corporate / M&A Department, based in our London office. Brian advises on a broad range of corporate matters, with extensive experience in public and private mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, IPOs and other capital markets transactions. In addition to transactional representations, Brian also advises clients on governance matters and ongoing regulatory compliance.

Eoin Caulfield is a a Partner and Head of William Fry’s Insurance Department. He joined the Firm in 1995. His practice involves a combination of insurance and reinsurance work, both on the non-life and life side, together with a general corporate and financial services client base.

Nuala is Head of the Employment & Benefits Department at William Fry. Nuala’s expertise encompasses contentious and non-contentious employment advices with a particular specialism is employment litigation. Nuala also advises in respect of workplace health and safety law. Nuala advises a range of multinationals, public and private sector employers advising on a variety of employment and health and safety matters. Nuala has significant experience acting for clients both before the Workplace Relations Commission, the Labour Court and the Superior Courts.

Alicia Compton is a Consultant in William Fry’s Employment & Pensions Department. She advises on employment matters with particular experience in advising on the employment aspects of corporate restructuring, the termination of employment and in relation to employment issues in the public sector. Alicia has written extensively on employment law and is the Practice and Procedure contributor to the Irish Employment Law Journal.

Paul is a Partner in our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department. He advises individuals and corporate clients involved in domestic and multi-jurisdictional contractual/tortious disputes and represents the Irish interests of a number of global corporations and Irish based entities. Paul has extensive experience of advising clients where issues arise involving financial litigation, which has included being lead advisor on behalf of two parties involved in separate Madoff related proceedings with an overall value in excess of USD$3.5bn.

Barry is a Partner in William Fry’s Corporate Department. He specialises in M&A, IPO, corporate restructurings, corporate finance, securities laws, company law, corporate governance, shareholder agreements, and contractual issues (including agency and distribution agreements).

Vincent is a Partner in William Fry's Asset Management & Investment Funds Department and advises a wide variety of clients on regulatory and structural issues associated with the establishment and management of investment funds in Ireland. He has significant experience in advising both Alternative Funds and UCITS (using both traditional and alternative strategies) as well as advising on the authorisation of UCITS and alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs).

David Cullen is a Partner in William Fry’s Technology Group, specialising in complex technology matters and the strategic protection and development of intellectual property. His extensive experience covers outsourcing, cloud computing, personality rights, data protection, biotechnology, and electronic commerce.

Fergus Devine is a Partner in the Projects & Construction Department and Head of William Fry's Energy & Natural Resources Group. Fergus advises local and international power, oil, gas and commodities companies on major projects, transactions and regulatory matters. He has particular expertise in advising new market participants, and those considering opportunities, in the energy sector in Ireland, including in relation to renewable energy and co-generation. Fergus also advises procuring authorities, bidders, financiers, contractors and operators in relation to PPPs in highly regulated sectors.

Ian is a Partner and Head of Pensions in William Fry's Employment & Benefits team. Ian advises employers and pension scheme trustees on all areas of pension law and has extensive experience in advising on issues related to pension scheme funding, investment and restructuring.

Tiernan Diamond

Tiernan is a Partner in William Fry's Real Estate department. His work includes advising clients on property acquisitions, disposals, investments, development, real estate finance and landlord and tenant matters. Tiernan has significant experience in the renewables sector, having acted for a number of clients in relation to the financing, development and operation of energy projects throughout Ireland, and also advises clients in the healthcare and industrial sectors

Sergey Dolomanov

Sergey is a Partner in our Asset Management & Investment Funds Department. Sergey specialises in the establishment and regulation of UCITS and alternative funds and has significant ETF experience. He regularly advises leading asset managers on the establishment of new product and has worked extensively on the establishment of physical and synthetic ETFs pursuing a wide variety of investment strategies including ESG and SRI strategies, thematic funds, factor-based investing and investment in mainland China. Sergey has advised on a number of major acquisitions of fund management businesses and consolidations of fund ranges. He also advises fund and management company directors on regulatory and corporate governance requirements.

Fergus Doorly is a Partner in William Fry’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department, specialising in commercial litigation and insolvency. He has experience in all aspects of commercial litigation, with a particular emphasis on shareholder disputes, contractual disputes and financial services disputes. His insolvency expertise is advising liquidators, receivers, and examiners of companies, as well as creditors, directors and shareholders of insolvent companies.

Carol Eager is a Partner in our Corporate Department. Carol's practice focuses on advising both public and private companies, investment houses and venture capital organisations on a range of corporate law issues, with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, private equity and venture capital investments and corporate governance. She is commercial and pragmatic and is the trusted advisor of a variety of Irish and international clients.

Barbara is a Partner in William Fry’s Litigation & Investigations department, specialising in corporate restructuring and insolvency. Barbara has particular expertise in advising on all aspects of examinership, liquidation and receivership processes (contentious and non-contentious), acting for creditors, shareholders and directors as well as insolvency practitioners. Barbara’s more recent experience includes advising on a number of significant cross-border insolvency and restructuring processes. She also advises clients in complex commercial litigation matters.

Myra is a Corporate Partner and former Managing Partner of the Firm. She has a broad corporate practice specialising in corporate finance, particularly mergers & acquisitions, public takeovers, IPOs, public/private fundraisings and corporate structuring. She emerged as a leader via heavy involvement in Nasdaq and Irish Stock Exchange work during the technology boom in the late 1990s and remains one of Ireland’s leading M&A and IPO lawyers. She also advises companies and intermediaries on corporate governance, stock exchange rules, market abuse, the Prospectus Regulations, the Takeover Rules and general compliance.

Adele is a Senior Associate in our Litigation & Investigations Department and holds a qualification in Business and Legal Studies (BBLS) from University College Dublin, a Masters in Law (LLM) from Trinity College Dublin and a Diploma in Commercial Litigation from the Law Society of Ireland. She is also on the roll of Solicitors for England and Wales.

Jarleth Heneghan

Jarleth Heneghan is a Partner in Projects & Construction and Alternative Dispute Resolution. His practice is a mix of both contentious and non-contentious construction, projects and dispute resolution for State, international clients/intermediaries, developer, financial institutions, professional and contractor clients. Jarleth advises on Irish and international construction and engineering bespoke and standard form agreements (e.g. RIAI, IEI, GCCC, JCT, NEC and FIDIC etc). He also advises on procurement and PPP/PFI. Jarleth also advises on alternative dispute resolution matters, including conciliation, mediation, adjudication, arbitration construction insolvency issues and rescue financing.

Jason is a Partner in William Fry's Banking & Financial Services Department. He advises on all aspects of domestic and international finance transactions in the primary and secondary debt markets for a broad range of financial institutions, alternative lenders, corporates, funds and partnerships.

Shane Kelleher is a Partner in William Fry’s Financial Regulation Group and Corporate Department. He advises clients on all aspects of financial regulation including regulatory issues arising in mergers and acquisitions, acquisitions and disposals of qualifying holdings in regulated entities, authorisations and extension or surrender of authorisations, compliance with conduct of business requirements, fitness and probity, corporate governance, market abuse and transparency requirements. Shane advises regulated entities including credit institutions, MiFID investment firms, payment institutions, electronic money institutions, investment business firms, other financial institutions and investors in the financial services sector on compliance with regulatory standards and the impact of new regulatory developments at Irish and EU levels. He is a member of William Fry’s Regulatory Enforcement Group. Shane has considerable experience of working in general company and corporate law, mergers and acquisitions and banking and financial services law practices at William Fry and he brings the benefit of this varied practice base to his work for clients in his specialist area of financial regulation.

Barbara is a Partner in William Fry’s Corporate Department. She specialises in Mergers & Acquisitions, reorganisations and fundraisings. Barbara has written shareholder's agreements and spoken extensively on the Companies Act 2014 and the implications of same for Irish companies.

Stephen Keogh is the Managing Partner of William Fry. Stephen was previously Head of William Fry’s Corporate/M&A department specialising in transactional corporate work with a particular emphasis on private equity transactions, acting for sponsors, target companies and management teams. Stephen served on William Fry’s management committee for 3 years and was head of William Fry’s London office for 5 years.

Padraic Kinsella

Padraic is a Partner in William Fry's Banking & Finance Department. Padraic has extensive experience in acting for financial institutions, alternative lenders and borrowers in relation to syndicated lending, real estate finance (development and investment), acquisition finance, project finance, invoice discounting and receivables financing, lending to fund structures and general corporate and personal lending.

John is a Consultant in William Fry’s Insurance Department. He advises insurance and reinsurance companies, as well as intermediaries, on all aspects of their business including M&A transactions, portfolio transfers, restructurings, contractual negotiations and regulatory matters. He also has extensive experience in helping insurance and reinsurance companies obtain authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland and on passporting into other EEA markets.

Cormac is a Partner and head of William Fry’s Competition & Regulation Department, specialising in EU and Irish competition, merger control and public procurement rules. He advises on the compatibility of business arrangements with EU and Irish competition laws and has represented clients in antitrust investigations by both the European Commission and the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and in proceedings before the European and Irish courts. Cormac has also secured Irish regulatory approval regarding many high-profile corporate transactions. He also advises both public bodies and disappointed bidders regarding challenges to contract decisions under public procurement rules. Cormac also has a broader regulatory focus. He advises clients on complying with anti-money laundering rules and on 'white-collar' crime issues. He has also been appointed as senior counsel by the cabinet.

Sonya is a Partner and Head of William Fry Tax Advisors. She advises both domestic and multi-national corporations across a range of sectors on Irish tax matters including corporate tax, VAT and stamp duty. She is a key member of the firm’s FDI group. Her extensive experience includes advising on inward investment, IP and international tax structuring, reorganisations, real estate transactions and mergers and acquisitions.

Michelle Martin

Michelle’s practice includes judicial reviews arising out of proposed major infrastructure projects, planning injunctions and planning oral hearings. Michelle also advises on environmental compliance investigations and prosecutions. Michelle is experienced in property and construction litigation and advises on compulsory purchase matters. Michelle is a member of the Firm’s Energy, Renewables & Utilities practice group.

David is a Partner and Co-Head of the Banking & Finance Department and Head of Aviation & Asset Finance. He advises on financing transactions for many different classes of assets, particularly aircraft and on a variety of structures including debt and equity investments, operating and finance leases and securitisations.

Liam McCabe is Head of William Fry’s Projects & Construction Department and Chairman of the Firm. He specialises in the negotiation of contracts based on Irish and international standard industry forms and on special purpose contracts in construction and engineering. He also advises clients on liability and insurance in the context of construction projects, and on statutory process issues, particularly planning.

Lisa McCarthy is a Partner in William Fry’s Commercial Property Department. Lisa practices in all aspects of property law with emphasis on commercial leasing, property acquisitions and disposals and property based lending. Lisa advises a number of high profile investors, developers and retailers.

Ted is a partner with William Fry Tax Advisors and head of the Financial Services Tax team. He has over 18 years experience providing tax advice to businesses operating in the financial services industry, with a particular focus on those in the investment management sector.

Andrew McIntyre

Andrew is Head of William Fry's Corporate Department and specialises in cross-border transactional mergers and acquisitions, primarily in the technology and life sciences sectors. He has extensive experience advising on acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, corporate/tax restructurings, capital maintenance, corporate governance, corporate finance, private equity and venture capital. Andrew headed William Fry’s San Francisco office from 2016 to 2019 where he worked closely with US clients on international expansion projects to Ireland. Andrew leads the firm’s Inward Investment Group and acts for a wide range of Irish and international corporations and investment firms in the technology, life sciences and infrastructure sectors.

Louise McNabola

Louise McNabola is a Partner in in William Fry's FinTech practice and holds a BComm and LLB from University College Galway.

Leo is a Partner in the William Fry Technology Group, specialising in information technology (including e-commerce), data protection, intellectual property and commercial law. As part of his practice Leo advises on IT and business process outsourcing, software licensing and development, Internet of Things, apps and smart technology, e-commerce, cloud computing, systems integration, FinTech, strategic legal due diligence and on sports related matters. A regular contributor of articles to publications, Leo has also participated in lecture programmes on data protection, commercial law and intellectual property. He is a lecturer on the Law Society’s Diploma Programme and its Professional Practice.

Margaret Muldowney

Margaret Muldowney is a Consultant to the Clinical Advisory team within our Life Sciences division at William Fry, Margaret has advised healthcare clients including hospitals, doctors and nurses, on all aspects of their work for almost 30 years. She acts as lead legal advisor in the defence of clinical claims and fitness to practice inquiries.

Laura Murdock

Brian O’Callaghan

Brian O’Callaghan is a Partner specialising in contentious and non-contentious Property. He has experience of advising on landlord and tenant disputes such as enforcement and interpretation of lease covenants, property related insolvency, disputes over joint venture agreements as well as sale and purchase disputes. He also has vast experience in property finance and property based lending, retail and office leasing for landlords and tenants and investment acquisitions and disposals.

John O’Connor

John is a Partner in William Fry’s Technology Group, the most experienced technology law team in the Irish market. He specialises in complex and large scale technology and outsourcing transactions including systems integration and implementation arrangements, licensing, IT and business process outsourcings and cloud services. John is also a specialist in the area of privacy, data protection and cyber security law and advises on general compliance, data transfers, hosting, issue management and best practice. He has gained particular experience of advising technology, life sciences and financial services organisations on major outsourcings and on ‘big data’ projects including the procurement and deployment of FinTech.

Deirdre O’Donovan

Aisling O’Gorman

Aisling is a Real Estate Partner in William Fry with more than ten years of experience focusing on Irish and international real estate transactions. Aisling provides a full range of services including advising on acquisitions, disposals, developments and investments. She regularly leads on the commercial real estate components of corporate M&A transactions and renewable energy transactions. She also specialises in landlord and tenant representation and works with a number of institutional landlords and various UK and International retailers. She has vast experience advising on landlord and tenant matters (including leasing, consent applications, disposals, service of break notices and general estate/ portfolio management).

Charleen O’Keefe

Charleen is a Partner in William Fry’s Litigation & Investigations Department and a member of its Life Sciences Group, specialising in intellectual property and regulatory law. Charleen specialises in life sciences intellectual property litigation and advising clients in the life sciences sector on regulatory issues. She is a skilled commercial litigator, with extensive experience in complex, multi-jurisdictional patent and trade mark disputes. Her patent litigation experience ranges from medical devices to pharmaceuticals and biologics. In addition, Charleen has a particular interest in complex medical device product liability claims. In the areas of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and medical devices, Charleen advises on every phase of a product’s life cycle from product development, clinical trials, data exclusivity, regulatory approval to commercialisation and product safety/recall/liability.

Máire O’Neill

David O’Shea

Owen O’Sullivan

Owen O'Sullivan is a Consultant in William Fry’s Litigation & Investigations Department and a former Managing Partner of the firm. He specialises in commercial disputes, particularly shareholder and investment disputes, as well as disputes in the financial sector. He has been involved in many high profile property disputes and has product liability defence experience in the pharmaceutical, energy drink, motor and tobacco sectors.

James Phelan is a Partner in William Fry's Asset Management & Investment Funds Department, specialising in advising asset managers in relation to the establishment, regulation and ongoing management of a wide variety of investment funds in both the UCITS and alternative arenas. He has specialist experience in advising in relation to the establishment of both physical and synthetic ETFs and has also been involved in providing detailed guidance to fund directors in relation to corporate governance standards and the Central Bank of Ireland’s fitness and probity regime.

Mark is a Partner in William Fry’s Corporate Department. His practice consists primarily of transactional corporate engagements, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments (acting both for investors and for companies raising funding), and corporate restructurings. He also has experience in private equity fund establishment, equity capital markets, and general corporate and commercial law advisory work.

Clodagh Ruigrok

Clodagh is a Partner in William Fry’s Asset Management & Investment Funds department and specialises in advising asset managers in relation to the establishment, regulation and ongoing management of a wide variety of investment funds. She has a particular focus in the evolving areas of artificial intelligence (AI), data protection and environmental, social governance (ESG), and their impact on asset managers. She is a member of the Irish Funds Green Team Network, the William Fry Sustainability Steering and Environmental Committees, and the Financial Services Strategy Group, working closely with the William Fry Technology Department on continuous AI regulatory developments. Her work has been shortlisted by the Financial Times in the Innovative Lawyers Awards

Bryanna is a Partner in William Fry’s Projects & Construction Department. Bryanna has extensive experience in advising both domestic and international clients (including corporate clients, statutory bodies and local authorities) on: All types of construction and Engineering Projects (including the drafting and negotiation of bespoke form contracts and contracts based on Irish and International standard industry forms (e.g. RIAI, IEI, GCCC, JCT, NEC and FIDIC etc) Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects across all sectors Facilities Management (FM) / Operation & Maintenance (O&M) arrangements for asset maintenance under long-life Public Private Partnership projects Large Scale Infrastructure Development Complex Equipment Purchase Agreements Health and Safety in the context of Construction Building Control Legislation

Gerard is a Partner in William Fry’s Corporate/M&A Department specialising in private company transactional work with a particular focus on cross border matters and technology related transactions and companies. Gerard has extensive mergers and acquisitions experience and also advises on private equity and venture capital investment and corporate reorganizations. He also has an expertise in advising on corporate governance, shareholder agreements and matters including contentious shareholder disputes.

Ruairi is a Partner in William Fry's Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department and Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency Group with expertise in commercial litigation, insolvency and corporate restructurings. He acts for parties in complex commercial litigation and, as part of his restructuring practice, frequently advises clients on large scale transactions and reorganisations that are implemented with the sanction of the Irish High Court. Ruairi's insolvency expertise includes advising the various stakeholders in insolvency scenarios including office holders (receivers, liquidators, examiners), directors, shareholders and creditors.

Laura Scott is a Partner in William Fry’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department specialising in intellectual property and regulatory law. Laura advises on all aspects of contentious work involving patents, trade marks, copyright, designs and confidential information and has extensive experience in large-scale litigation before the Irish Commercial Court, including complex multi-jurisdictional patent disputes. Laura also has significant experience in acting for regulators in defending judicial review actions, statutory appeals and other legal challenges. Laura has particular expertise in the pharmaceutical and medical device sector from a regulatory, commercial and intellectual property perspective. Other areas of focus include regulatory and other issues in the fields of telecommunications, broadcast media, and advertising and marketing.

Edward is a partner in William Fry’s Real Estate Department, specialising in all aspects of property law including acquisitions, disposals, mergers and property - based lending.

Mark is a Partner in William Fry’s Corporate department specialising in public and private mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets transactions, including IPOs, primary and secondary fundraisings and ESM/AIM admissions. Mark also advises clients on securities regulation under the Irish Market Abuse, Transparency and Prospectus regimes and on the Irish Takeover Rules and has experience of advising clients in relation to the Central Bank of Ireland’s administrative sanctions procedures.

Patricia Taylor

Patricia Taylor is a Consultant in William Fry’s Asset Management & Investment Funds Department. Her practice focuses on the establishment of Irish-domiciled investment funds of all kinds including "long only" funds, derivative funds, hedge funds and funds of hedge funds, multi-manager funds and exchange traded funds. She also advises the promoters of, and service providers to, investment funds including asset managers, fund administrators and trustees/custodians.

Sheila is a Partner in William Fry’s Competition & Regulation Department. She advises on all aspects of EU, UK and Irish competition law including merger control, anti-competitive agreements and conduct by dominant firms. She has particular experience in merger control and in distribution, parallel imports, rebates and other pricing practices. In addition, she specialises in public procurement law and is an external supervisor for EU Public Procurement Law on the King’s College, London, LLM programme.

Conor is a Partner in ourReal Estate Department with 10 years' experience in the Irish real estate market. Conor advises on a broad range of commercial real estate activities, including sales and purchases, lettings and property financings. Conor has extensive experience in the acquisition and disposal of commercial property and has acted for high profile developers and landlords advising on the structuring and pre-lets for new retail and mixed-use schemes.

Mary is a Partner in William Fry's Banking & Finance department with a particular emphasis on Aviation and Asset Finance. Mary advises on a broad range of banking and finance transactions with a particular focus on asset finance and structured finance. She also advises banks, funders, investors and corporates on all forms of investment and acquisition finance.

Claire Waterson

Claire Waterson is a Partner in William Fry’s Competition & Regulation Department advising on all aspects of Irish and EU competition law, including merger control, restrictive practices, State aids, public procurement and free movement. Claire specialises in sectoral regulation with a particular emphasis on telecommunications