Seven Promotions and Two New Hires bring the number of partners and tax principals to 125
Matheson LLP is delighted to announce the appointment of nine new partners - six female and three male - across seven different practice areas. The appointments include seven internal promotions, effective from 1 January, as well as the recent arrival of Muireann Hernon from another large Irish law firm and the return to Matheson of Gearóid Murphy from an international law firm in London.
These new appointments will bring the total number of Matheson partners and tax principals to 125.
The newly promoted partners are;
- Owen Collins (Energy and Infrastructure)
- Aishlinn Gannon (Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution)
- Maeve Lochrie (Private Client)
- Seóna O'Donnellan (International Business Group)
- Sarah O'Meara (Asset Management)
- Simon Shinkwin (Competition and Regulation)
- Lisa Tait (Finance and Capital Markets)
In addition, Matheson is delighted to have been joined recently by Muireann Hernon who recently joined the firm’s Finance and Capital Markets team from another large Irish law firm, where she had been a partner since 2022. The Finance and Capital Markets team will also be joined in January by Gearóid Murphy, who will join the firm as a partner from an international law firm in London.
Matheson Managing Partner, Michael Jackson said; “2024 has been another year of significant growth for Matheson, with continued market-leading performances across the firm. Our people strategy is driven by the attraction, engagement and development of the market’s best legal talent. I am very pleased to see seven of our senior associates being promoted to partner across such a wide range of practice areas. I am also delighted to welcome the arrival of Muireann and Gearóid to our Finance and Capital Markets team, and I look forward to working with each of them over the coming years.”
(l-r: Simon Shinkwin, Sarah O'Meara, Seóna O'Donnellan, Lisa Tait, Maeve Lochrie, Aishlinn Gannon and Owen Collins)
About the new partners
Owen Collins (Energy and Infrastructure) - Owen advises on project development, project financing, energy M&A and energy regulatory matters. He has experience advising on all types of energy projects, including wind (onshore and offshore), solar, energy storage, biomass, hybrid projects, renewable gas and conventional generation. He specialises in the structuring, drafting and negotiation of power purchase agreements (PPAs), regularly advising in relation to REFIT and RESS PPAs, merchant PPAs and corporate PPAs (as well as related contracts such as trading services agreements).
Aishlinn Gannon (Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution) - A member of the firm's Regulatory Investigations team, which works closely with technical experts from numerous practice areas, Aishlinn is an experienced litigator who has acted in some of the most high-profile and high-value commercial disputes of recent years. Her clients include financial institutions, international organisations, insurers as well as commercial and private clients across multiple industry sectors, with a particular focus on financial services. She advises on complex commercial and financial services disputes and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and has significant experience in engagement with regulators, in investigations and enforcement actions. Aishlinn's practice also includes advising clients on white collar crime and corporate offences, fraud, anti-bribery and corruption compliance under the Irish and EU regimes.
Muireann Hernon (Finance and Capital Markets) - Muireann advises a range of Irish and international clients, including financial institutions, corporate borrowers, developers, investors, government departments and state bodies. Her practice covers syndicated and bilateral lending, including real estate and development finance, corporate and acquisition finance, and green and sustainable finance. Project finance is a particular focus of her practice, and Muireann has advised many of the prominent financial institutions and sponsors in the energy and infrastructure market. She is also a regular speaker and panellist at industry events.
Muireann recently joined Matheson from another large Irish law firm, where she had been a partner since 2022.
Maeve Lochrie (Private Client) - Maeve is a chartered tax advisor and TEP (trust and estates practitioner) in Matheson’s Private Client Group, where she advises Irish and foreign UHNW / HNW individuals and families, single / multi-family offices, foreign trust companies, investment managers and private banking clients on a variety of legal and tax issues associated with wealth and succession planning, asset protection and preservation, and offshore structures.
Seóna O’Donnellan (International Business Group) - Seóna advises US and other international clients on the legal aspects of doing business in and from Ireland. She advises on inward investment projects and works with companies on the establishment, expansion and operation of businesses in Ireland. Seóna also advises on the complex global reorganisations involving Irish subsidiaries of foreign companies, including integration and consolidation projects, spin-off transactions, and cross-border mergers. Seóna also advises on a broad range of day-to-day and corporate governance related issues, including directors' duties and other corporate practices and procedures. In addition, she provides advice and strategic counselling to clients and advice in relation to distributions and complex cash repatriation strategies.
Sarah O’Meara (Asset Management) - Sarah practices financial services law and advises many of the world’s leading financial institutions, investment banks, asset management companies and service providers carrying on business in Ireland or through Irish vehicles. Her experience includes advising a wide range of domestic and international clients on the structuring, establishment, marketing and sale of investment vehicles and products across the full range of investment strategies and asset classes and has completed secondments with two large asset managers in Dublin and London.
Simon Shinkwin (Competition and Regulation) - Simon advises on all aspects of EU and Irish competition and regulatory law, with a particular focus on the regulated telecoms, media, technology, infrastructure, food & beverage and life sciences sectors. He also co-leads Matheson's Foreign Direct Investment / Foreign Investment Review practice, advising businesses on Ireland’s new FDI regime and acquisitions of ‘critical’ and ‘sensitive’ assets and businesses. His experience includes advising clients on complex competition and merger control issues before the CCPC, the Minister for Environment, Climate & Communications and the European Commission, as well as on product / service launches across the EMEA, advisory and compliance work, regulatory appeals, investigations and submissions to sectoral regulators.
Lisa Tait (Finance and Capital Markets) - Lisa advises corporates, private equity sponsors, asset managers, financial institutions and lenders on a wide range of international and domestic finance transactions, including fund finance, acquisition finance, corporate and investment grade finance and property finance (development and investment).
