The Ireland debate: Don’t fear the robots

The Ireland debate: Don’t fear the robots

Nathalie Tidman, Legal Business: Welcome everyone. We have a fantastic panel of extremely talented and insightful people here this evening.

As a starter for ten, what do you see as the real opportunities and benefits for in-house lawyers using generative AI in your day-to-day dealings? Continue reading “The Ireland debate: Don’t fear the robots”

Ireland focus: No line on the horizon

Ireland focus: No line on the horizon

‘What’s happening with Kirkland would make a great Netflix documentary, although maybe a bit niche,’ quips one managing partner of the recent saga of the Chicago-bred powerhouse and Paul Weiss’ London office. ‘Let’s hope they’ve had cameras dotted around the office!’ The amused detachment with which the remark is delivered could be said to sum up the stance of Ireland’s law firm leaders in the round – often looking on at the dramas besetting other international markets from a rarefied position of relative immunity to the worst of the upheavals faced elsewhere in the world.

However, no market is an island, and many of the challenges faced by Ireland’s leading firms this time last year not only remain but have become more urgent. Managing partners are just as alive to reversals created by an ultra-competitive recruitment environment, not helped by a cost-of-living crisis that shows little sign of releasing its grip any time soon, while the ongoing war in Ukraine and related upward spiral of interest rates and inflation continue to make themselves felt. Continue reading “Ireland focus: No line on the horizon”

Sponsored briefing: What you need to know: Ireland’s Individual Accountability Framework (IAF)

Sponsored briefing: What you need to know: Ireland’s Individual Accountability Framework (IAF)

Introduction

The Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Act 2023 (the Act) was signed into law on 9 March 2023 and provides for the introduction of Ireland’s IAF, which represents a significant development in Ireland’s regulatory landscape. The Act’s origins can be traced back to the Central Bank’s 2017 recommendation for enhancing senior individuals’ accountability within regulated financial service providers (RFSPs). It aligns with international efforts to mitigate misconduct risks and addresses cultural failings identified in RFSPs during the 2008 financial crisis. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: What you need to know: Ireland’s Individual Accountability Framework (IAF)”

Sponsored Q&A: Nicholas Blake-Knox – partner and head of Walkers’ asset management and investment funds group in Ireland

Sponsored Q&A: Nicholas Blake-Knox – partner and head of Walkers’ asset management and investment funds group in Ireland

Can you tell us a little bit about your career and how you ended up at Walkers?

When I graduated from University College Dublin in 2001 with a business and law degree I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do. A friend in university had started working in a finance role within a fund administrator and he told me that if I joined and stayed for three months that he would get a €500 referral bonus. I joined. He got the referral bonus (which he didn’t share with me incidentally) and subsequently left to become a primary school teacher. Ironically, I have remained in the funds industry ever since. My legal career began a couple of years later with one of the leading domestic firms in Dublin, where I was earmarked for their investment funds group when I finished my traineeship. In 2011, I moved to London and joined the global asset management firm, PIMCO. I stayed in London with PIMCO for almost seven years before returning to Ireland in 2018 when I joined Walkers. During my time in London I completed an MBA at London Business School and briefly considered the idea of moving out of a legal role but ultimately stuck with a career in the legal profession. I feel that I have made the right choice and enjoy working in the funds industry in Ireland. Last year, I was elected to the Council of Irish Funds (the asset management and investment funds industry association here) and recently have been appointed to the role of vice chair of the association and consequently will assume the role of chair next year. Continue reading “Sponsored Q&A: Nicholas Blake-Knox – partner and head of Walkers’ asset management and investment funds group in Ireland”

Sponsored briefing: Challenges and strategies in a competitive market

Sponsored briefing: Challenges and strategies in a competitive market

Lisa Broderick of DAC Beachcroft examines the key problems and priorities for Irish clients, as well as the firm’s recent international growth and adaptations post-Covid

DACB Dublin is part of DAC Beachcroft LLP, an international law firm with over 2,800 professionals and a legal network advising across the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and North America. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Challenges and strategies in a competitive market”

Euro Elite 2023: Ireland – Slight return

Euro Elite 2023: Ireland – Slight return

While Ireland’s competitive legal market has enjoyed a buoyant period post-Covid, fresh challenges have emerged to challenge this optimism. Ireland has not been insulated from the overheated recruitment market and is as alive as global peers to reversals wrought by the cost-of-living crisis, the war in Ukraine and a slowing of deals as concerns over interest rates and inflation continue to gather pace.

However, Declan Black, Mason Hayes & Curran’s managing partner, predicts high single-digit revenue growth for the 2022 calendar year, even as it comes on the back of a 2021 banner year for much of the Irish market at large. ‘Corporate transactions are down from the 2021 peak and that has spread through the western world,’ he says. ‘Valuations have tumbled amid concerns over interest rates and inflation. Deals have slowed down.’ That said, he points to real estate, financial services, contentious, regulatory and data regulatory as areas of sustained growth. Continue reading “Euro Elite 2023: Ireland – Slight return”

Ireland focus – The thunder rolls

Ireland focus – The thunder rolls

To a London hack hitting the streets and the meeting rooms of Dublin for the first time since coronavirus struck, Ireland’s capital is abuzz, perhaps more so than usual. Somewhat inexplicably, there are excited hordes of Americans wherever you turn, many of whom look as if they’ve just stepped off the set of a spaghetti western.

All becomes clear in the first coffee meeting of the day. ‘Garth Brooks is playing five shows at Croke Park,’ laments one managing partner, with an eye-roll. ‘It’s bloody desperate.’ Clearly not a fan. Continue reading “Ireland focus – The thunder rolls”

The Ireland debate: Top GCs gather in Dublin to thrash out the strategic role of in-house counsel

The Ireland debate: Top GCs gather in Dublin to thrash out the strategic role of in-house counsel

Nathalie Tidman, Legal Business: What sector-specific challenges are you facing when it comes to strategic decision-making in-house?

Sally Anne Sherry (pictured), Bartra Group: There are a couple of challenges that are specific to real estate, and those are often related to legislative changes that happen quite quickly. For example, when co-living was introduced in Ireland and then effectively banned again with little warning. In the last few years, we have also been dealing with difficulties with the planning system and judicial reviews. A lot of the press coverage of it has gone quiet, but we are still stuck in judicial review cases where we are trying to deliver units and we cannot get out of the court system. Continue reading “The Ireland debate: Top GCs gather in Dublin to thrash out the strategic role of in-house counsel”

Euro Elite Ireland: Setting the pace

Euro Elite Ireland: Setting the pace

The past six years have been a turbulent period for the Irish economy, with uncertainties surrounding the UK’s exit from the EU quickly followed by the impact of Covid-19. Despite these external shocks, however, Ireland’s economy has performed strongly relative to the rest of Europe, with the country’s technology and pharmaceutical sectors particular bright spots. In addition to continued foreign direct investment, the domestic economy has overperformed expectations in spite of prolonged periods of restrictions, and ambitious targets on climate change are driving the development of new energy infrastructure.

Multinationals remain a major engine of Irish economic growth. Dublin is home to a host of household names in the tech space, including Apple, Google and TikTok, which established a base in the Irish capital in 2021. The presence of these tech giants in Ireland has wide-ranging effects on the Irish economy, with increased demand for Dublin office space and data centre infrastructure two particularly visible trends. Continue reading “Euro Elite Ireland: Setting the pace”