Acting on both the domestic and international stage, the ‘first-class’ pensions and incentives offering at A&L Goodbody LLP distinguishes itself for advising an enviable clientele of both public and private sector entities on the entire spectrum of matters. The team consists of a deep bench of specialists under practice head David Main, who is well positioned to advise on liability management issues and matters related to trustee governance. Keavy Ryan, who leads the incentives team, specialises in all aspects of share incentives, with particular expertise in its treatment in M&A transactions and corporate governance. Chris Comerford, who focuses on defined benefit scheme restructurings and wind-ups, and pensions product expert David Francis, are also integral members of the team.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘A&L Goodbody has a first-class pensions team, all of whom are a pleasure to deal with. They seek to work in partnership with their clients, and take the time to understand the specific issues that need to be addressed and how that impacts the client, before coming up with excellent guidance, advice and practical solutions.’
‘David Francis - goes the extra mile for the client and always with an eye to the commerciality of the situation while giving the technical legal advice.'
'Chris Comerford - always a pleasure to deal with - gives very clear and commercial advice - very satisfied clients in my experience. David Main - an excellent lawyer who you know is available if needed.'
‘It's a great pensions team led by David Main. A pleasure to deal with, technically excellent and pragmatic.’
‘David Francis - an in-depth exceptional knowledge of all things pension law related. Understands our pension schemes extremely well. Always available and very calm. Very practical and solution focused.’
‘David Francis has been a long term advisor for our company, and remembers details from many years ago as if they happened yesterday.’
‘The team provides creative solutions to complex problems but in a careful, technically proficient manner. Also, very nice people to work with.’
‘David Francis and Chris Comerford are stand out partners. They manage to combine technical precision and user-friendly delivery to provide pragmatic solutions. They are brilliant at working across different jurisdictions with other law firms.’
Key clients
- Irish Airline Pilots Pensions
- Irish Airlines Pensions DAC
- The Trustees of the Bank of Ireland Staff Pensions Fund
- KPMG
- Heineken Ireland Limited
- Zurich
- Aviva
- Capita
- Tesco
- GE
Work highlights
- Advised Corebridge Financial on the sale of Laya Healthcare to Axa.
- Advised Endo on its Irish pension arrangements.
- Advised Exponent on all Irish law pensions aspects of the purchase of chanelle pharma.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next generation partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
David Main; Keavy Ryan
Other key lawyers
David Francis; Chris Comerford