Clyde & Co

Northern Ireland

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Sinead Connolly

Sinead is a partner and joint head of the Dublin office.She specialises in advising insurers and corporate policyholders in respect of public and employers’ liability and motor-related injuries.She has specialised in personal injury litigation for over 12 years dealing with claims of all values to include catastrophic injury.Sinead has developed excellent working relationships with experts in this field including senior counsel, medical experts, forensic accountants, actuaries and vocational rehabilitation experts. Prior to joining BLM she worked in-house for six years with one of the UK's largest insurers.

Eileen Doherty

Partner

Cormac Fitzpatrick

Cormac is a partner and heads the catastrophic injury and large loss services on offer within BLM NI. He has particular experience of HSENI and police investigations involving fatalities or serious injury.The first corporate manslaughter prosecution in NI was against a small construction company Drumdollagh Construction Limited after a fatal accident in 2008. Instructions to act for this company involved a PACE interview with the Managing Director and owner and representation on a corporate manslaughter charge before the Crown Court in 2011. The same year Cormac represented a large construction concern facing charges after a fatal accident at RAF Aldergrove. Three of the company directors where interviewed under caution at Antrim PSNI custody suite over a three days. Representation was provided at each interview and before the Crown Court on H&S charges.

Katrina Gray

Katrina is a partner in the Belfast office and a qualified solicitor advocate. She has considerable experience advising a variety of insurance clients and self-funded companies in respect of defending motor claims, indemnity issues and employers' liability and public liability personal injury cases, including large loss claims. Katrina manages the recovery team, dealing with both motor and property cases to recover outlay on behalf of a number of insurance companies.  She also has specialist experience in employment law cases acting for both employees and employers in a range of industrial tribunal and fair employment tribunal disputes.Katrina regularly represents clients in regulatory proceedings before their professional regulatory body.

Rachel Keenan

Rachel is a partner with experience in defending claims in the insurance sector and advising clients in a wide range of insurance claims. She specialises in the defence of high value and complex personal injury cases arising from motor, employers’ liability and public liability claims at both the pre and post proceedings stages for a number of major insurers. She has specialist experience in credit hire litigation and manages the credit hire team in Northern Ireland. Rachel regularly advises on complex policy coverage issues including late notification and non-disclosure.

Michelle McCullough

Michelle is a partner, and since qualifying in 2012 she has specialised in insurance litigation, handling claims for a number of major insurers. Her work involves motor claims with a focus on credit hire as well as complex employer and public liability claims. With a keen eye for detail she advises insurance clients on complex policy indemnity issues specialising in fire and property damage claims. Michelle has experience in professional negligence claims particularly surveyors’ and architects’ negligence. Following completion of the Law Society (NI) Certificate in Advanced Advocacy in 2017 Michelle regularly conducts her own advocacy including acting on behalf of nurses at Nursing Midwifery Council regulatory hearings. Michelle is part of the editorial team that puts together BLM Northern Ireland's monthly newsletter keeping clients up-to-date on legal developments.

Rhona McGrath

Rhona is a partner and joined BLM in September 2012 from Aviva insurance Europe SE where she managed the in-house legal team for 12 years. While there, she acquired extensive experience in procedural and strategic defence of personal injuries litigation. In addition to management of a diverse portfolio of litigation files, she provided support to the pre-litigation teams in both guidance as to claim value and tactical approaches towards claims settlement. In her role with Aviva she developed a keen understanding of the priorities and commercial drivers of an insurances business. Prior to Aviva, she spent 10 varied years practising in defence litigation in Sydney, Australia. As well as personal injuries litigation, she advised on a wide range of subjects including policy indemnity, product liability, medical negligence, construction law, fidelity guarantee and recovery,

Tara McSorley

Tara is a partner and works on fraud cases, with an expertise in first and third party fraud and recovery. She has extensive experience of fraud rings, staged accidents, phantom passengers and exaggerated personal injury claims. She also advises on DPA legislation and the tort of deceit. Tara participates in regular claims surgeries for insurer teams and delivers training on combatting fraud together with the current patterns and trends in fraud claims. She plays an active role in the Insurance Fraud Investigators Group and has received National Intelligence Model (NIM) training as well as instruction on investigative and intelligence gathering.