Feargal Brennan, head of law firm ByrneWallace's corporate division, succeeded Catherine Guy as managing partner in June 2018. Notable hires last year included Fergal Ruane, a partner appointment to head up the projects and infrastructure team. Ruane joined from Maples and previously worked in Transport Infrastructure Ireland and law firm Philip Lee. Gavin Blake joined from Beauchamps to head up the energy and natural resources team. ByrneWallace added nine solicitors through 2018, and Tracey O’Donnell recently joined from Deloitte as partner and head of capital advisory, while Philip Nolan was hired from KPMG to take on the role of tax principal. Another lateral hire was new partner Mark O’Shaughnessy, a specialist in corporate litigation.   

You assumed the managing partner role in June 2018. What are your priorities in shaping and leading the organisation?

In my view, the market is generally buoyant, but changing. Those firms that place service, and efficiency in delivery of service, at the forefront of what they do, will be those that are best positioned when the market moves in the other direction. 

As a leading business law firm it is not overstating it to say that it’s all about quality and service, service, service.  Meeting the diverse needs of our clients and doing so in a way that is excellent, consistent and delivered in an efficient and user-friendly way is key. 

We are investing heavily in our service quality, whether through expanding our professional service support capabilities, investing in our technology platforms and adding service lines where there is a demonstrated need, as well as being at the forefront of new legal and regulatory developments. 

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Culture is crucially important. We are a people business and need excellent people, excellent in both the legal and other skills they possess, but excellent also in how they engage with each other and with our clients. While we operate in a very high performance environment it is important that we are respectful and collegiate in how we go about our business. ByrneWallace has an excellent story to tell in this regard and one that resonates strongly in the market. 

How would you describe ByrneWallace’s USP in the legal marketplace?

ByrneWallace is a leading Irish business law firm, providing a full range of legal services to a broad range of organisations, from private to public, indigenous to international, across all industry and business sectors.  

We pride ourselves on delivering excellence in client service and legal expertise. This has been recognised in the market, both nationally and internationally, over the years, through the many accolades, awards and accreditations we have achieved.

We are committed to recruiting, retaining and developing the best people to deliver the highest level of service to our clients, and we are consistently investing in and enhancing our range of services, our systems and our processes to ensure we continue to be well positioned to meet the ever-changing and increasingly complex needs of our clients and the market.     

What makes us stand out as a firm is our unique culture, and commitment to a ‘One Firm’ approach. The theory of being a multi-disciplinary practice is to ensure that our clients gain access to the most excellent levels of service available as efficiently as possible. 

As our firm has grown to become one of the larger law firms in the country, it has become very clear to us that more and more of our clients’ needs will be met by different teams throughout the firm. This can only work, however, where our skilled teams work together to deliver a seamless high quality service to our clients. 

Collaboration and teamwork both internally and with our clients is key. We work very hard to ensure throughout our firm that we deliver that service to the highest levels and in a coordinated and consistently excellent way. In our view, this is best achieved in an open and respectful culture where we very clearly place the service to our clients at the heart of everything we do.