Expertise
Matheson’s Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department is one of Ireland’s leading disputes practices, representing both domestic and international clients. We are at the forefront of the key Commercial Court cases currently taking place before the Irish Courts. We act for a broad range of clients, including financial institutions, property developers, insurance companies and large multinational clients.
Every deal or transaction carries with it the risk of a dispute and reputational management. Successful businesses require lawyers that can pre-empt the issues that may surface, take steps to minimise them and then react quickly and effectively when a dispute arises. We routinely assist our clients with pre-emptive advice on potentially contentious aspects of major corporate and financial transactions. We play a critical role in the strategy of the dispute from the outset and minimise the cost and time involved in instructing external counsel. We give our clients business ready advice that enables them to approach a dispute, confident that we will guide them to the most commercial resolution.
Understanding your business and your objectives are key to our approach. Our size means we have the flexibility and depth of resource to handle large and complex litigation. We never forget that every client may have different needs and expectations. When necessary, we design and implement a bespoke service to meet our client’s requirements.
Our full service offering extends beyond traditional legal advice. Our Digital Legal Services business offers cost effective technological solutions and project management support for document intensive cases. Our resources facilitate the fast-tracking of the most complex commercial and cross-border disputes through Ireland’s Commercial Court.
The partners in our Department are also leaders in the development of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and a number of our partners are accredited mediators. Matheson also has Ireland’s only representative on the London Court of International Arbitration.
Our close working relationships with leading overseas law firms, experts in forensic investigations and other relevant disciplines, ensure that clients benefit from a seamless service.
Our Team
Our dedicated team of over 100 professionals is led by 21 partners.
- Angela Brennan
- Michael Byrne
- Geraldine Carr
- Connor Cassidy
- Brendan Colgan
- Deirdre Crowley
- Gráinne Dever
- Nicola Dunleavy
- Bryan Dunne
- Kevin Gahan
- Aishlinn Gannon
- Aisling Kavanagh
- Ruadhán Kenny
- April McClements
- Julie Murphy-O'Connor
- Mairéad Ní Ghabháin
- Tony O'Grady
- Karen Reynolds
- Russell Rochford
- Rebecca Ryan
- Justine Sayers
- Advising one of the World’s largest banks on a number of cases before the Irish Courts arising from the Bernard Madoff fraud. This is the most significant litigation before the Irish Courts, both for complexity and value.
- Advising Opel in relation to commercial court proceedings arising out of the fire in Douglas Village Shopping Centre Cork.
- Advising Aviva in relation to a significant subrogation claim against the ESB in the Commercial Court and the Supreme Court arising from flooding in Cork City.
- Advising a number of insurance companies in relation to Covid 19 - related business interruption claims, internal investigations and related regulatory and reporting obligations.
- Advising a major insurance broker in connection with a dawn raid by the European Commission in connection with alleged anti-competitive practices.
- Advising a major multinational technology company in relation to contractual and licensing disputes with business partners throughout the EMEA region.
- Advises a major multinational technology company in relation to dealing with “Norwich Pharmacal” orders and take-down requests received.
- Advising an Irish plc in relation to a number of civil claims arising from a highly publicised investigation by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement followed by the appointment of High Court Inspectors to investigate the company.
- Advising credit servicing firms and investment funds in relation to interest overcharging issues affecting acquired loan portfolios and associated remediation projects.
- Representing Royalty Pharma in litigation related to its $6.5 billion hostile bid for Elan.
- Representing a US oil and gas company in a judicial review of a decision of the Commission for Energy Regulation in the Commercial Court.
- Representing a major European utility (French-headquartered) in respect of two successful court challenges to government procurement procedures.
- Acting for a multinational energy client in a dispute under a gas tolling agreement, governed by ICC arbitration rules.
- Advising a leading international aircraft owner in defending multimillion euro commercial court proceedings arising from the alleged late delivery of an aircraft at the end of its lease period.
- Advising an international private equity company against an Irish plc oil company in a cross-border enforcement of a multi-million international arbitration award arising from a shareholder dispute in relation to a gas field in Poland
- Advising Central Applications Office (Ireland's central university admissions body) in connection with challenges to the process adopted to address Leaving Certificate examination results arising out of Covd-19 lockdown.
- Advising an Irish plc in the successful Supreme Court appeal of a €10 million libel award.
- Advising a large Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas in a successful jurisdictional challenge to the enforcement of an Albanian judgment in Ireland, as part of a broader enforcement strategy (so far France, Luxembourg, Ireland, New York and the Netherlands) on the part of the Albanian applicant.
- Acting for an international shipping company in relation to a unique set of commercial court proceedings against GE Transportation Finance Limited. The decision will have potentially major ramifications for the shipping industry.