Orlagh O'Neill > Carson McDowell > Belfast, Northern Ireland > Lawyer Profile
Carson McDowell Offices

MURRAY HOUSE
MURRAY STREET
BELFAST
BT1 6DN
Northern Ireland
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Orlagh O'Neill

Work Department
Employment.
Position
Orlagh is a partner and head of the employment team. She has extensive experience in both the contentious and non-contentious fields and advises a broad spectrum of employers in the private and public sectors. Orlagh has a particular interest in advising employers in relation to sensitive discrimination cases and has been involved in a number of high-profile cases on behalf of her employer clients. The education field is also of particular interest to Orlagh and she advises institutions across the first, second and third level education sectors.
Career
Trained Carson McDowell; qualified 1998; joined niche employment firm Napier & Sons 1998; partner Napier & Sons 2006; partner and head of employment Carson McDowell 2009 to date.
Languages
French.
Memberships
Employment Lawyers Association; Employment Lawyers Group of Northern Ireland (honorary treasurer); Tribunal User Group in Northern Ireland.
Education
Dominican College, Belfast; Queens University Belfast (1995 LLB (Hons)).
Lawyer Rankings
Northern Ireland > Employment
Carson McDowell‘s client roster contains a number of public and quasi-public employers such as Translink, Royal Mail and Ulster University. Orlagh O’Neill leads the ‘commercially astute’ practice and is also vice chair of the Employment Lawyers Group NI, with a strong reputation for handling contentious employment matters. She works alongside the ‘outstanding‘ Rachel Penny, who is highlighted for her expertise in TUPE regulations as well as redundancies and reorganisations. Clients have also singled out senior associate Sarah Cochrane for her ‘ability to stay abreast of the ever-changing legislation and guidance around the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme‘.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Real estate > Commercial property
- Real estate > Construction
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Employment
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Energy, project finance and PFI
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > IT and telecoms
- Insurance > Personal injury and clinical negligence: defendant
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate
- Real estate > Planning and environment