The firm used to be known as Maples and Calder and has adopted the corporate identity of Maples Group, spanning legal services, and fiduciary services and fund services. In the Dublin operation, the law firm has 224 staff, of whom 35 are partners and 71 are associates. The total Maples Group headcount in Dublin is 397 people, and globally there are 1,870 people employed. Partner Alan O'Sullivan joined the litigation and dispute resolution team from Hayes Solicitors in 2018, while more recently Karen Killilea was hired from A&L Goodbody to head up the Maples employment team.

As Managing Partner, what are the management issues that top your priority list?

A key priority for us this year, and in the foreseeable future, is the retention and recruitment of talent.  Another priority for us this year, and in the foreseeable future, is the issue of diversity and inclusion as we continue our efforts to build and maintain an inclusive environment where differences of opinion, beliefs and values are sought, listened to and respected.

We are also committed to investing in IT infrastructure and cybersecurity. This includes staff training so that everyone within the entire business can spot risks and take appropriate action. A key challenge and opportunity our business will face over the next twelve months is the changing nature of the legal business model. Investment in technology is also a key priority for us to ensure both client and operational efficiencies.

In the past year, what areas of the practice have you strengthened?

Due to continued business growth and client demand there has been a considerable number of lateral hires and internal appointments in the past 12 months. In January 2018, Callaghan Kennedy, who joined the Maples Group as a trainee solicitor in 2009, was appointed to partner in our Structured Finance team. Partner Robin McDonnell was also promoted to Head of the Dispute Resolution and Insolvency team. Our Litigation team was further bolstered by the lateral hire of partner and Dispute Resolution lawyer, Alan O'Sullivan, in February 2018.

In Association with

This year, we have also grown our employment arm with the appointment of Partner and new Head of the Employment team, Karen Killalea. Karen has over eighteen years’ experience advising clients on all aspects of employment law; so of course, we are very pleased to have her on board. As well as this, there have been two appointments in our Funds & Investment Management team. Our Tax team also increased its partner headcount with the appointment of Lynn Cramer. Finally, Mary O'Neill was also appointed to partner in our growing Asset Finance team.

The partner appointments across a significant number of our practice areas underscores our commitment to providing commercial legal solutions to our clients, domestic and international.

What was the thinking behind the rebrand from Maples & Calder to Maples Group?

Our new corporate identity is another milestone in the evolution of the Group's brand and highlights the strength of the Maples Group as a comprehensive solution for legal, fiduciary, fund, entity formation and management services, as well as regulatory and compliance services.

It also unites our offerings and solutions in a way that differentiates us from others, giving us an edge over our competitors, and ensures that we are well positioned to capitalise on the demand we are seeing from clients for a comprehensive, commercial offering in many of our core areas.

How challenging for your firm is the solicitor retention and recruitment issue?

A key priority for us this year, and in the foreseeable future, is the retention and recruitment of talent. With almost half of solicitors now under the age of 40, the need to meet the expectations of younger generations entering the profession means imaginative staff retention strategies are key for us; this includes a flexible attitude to the working environment, and exploring agile working, which, over the past couple of years, we've been placing a huge emphasis on.

How has Brexit uncertainty impacted on domestic client activity?

Since the June 2016 referendum result, we have been of the view that Brexit is a mixed opportunity for Ireland's legal sector. On the one hand, it was inevitable, and this has certainly come to pass, that clients have naturally incorporated Ireland into their planning for continued access to European markets post Brexit.

Clients physically locating to Ireland results in the need for not only regulatory advice, but also property, employment and similar legal services as international clients also become domestic or increase their domestic exposure. On the other hand there is equally no question that the lengthy Brexit process has created uncertainty and it is impossible to know what wider transactional work which would otherwise have come to Ireland has been put on hold as a result of that uncertainty.

Given how interconnected the Irish and UK's economies are it is likely to be a while yet before the new normal emerges and settles.

How would you describe Maples Group's’ USP?

The Maples Group is unique in that as well as being an international law firm, it is an independent global provider of specialised fiduciary, corporate formation and administration services. We have always understood the demand from our clients for a complete and seamless service incorporating the legal advice we provide with the specialist suite of complementary services offered by our fiduciary and fund services teams. This has been a cornerstone of our growth for many years.

Our Funds & Investment Management legal team continues to go from strength to strength and at the end of last year, they retained their position as the number one legal adviser to Irish-serviced funds. We are a truly international business with 18 offices across the world serving global companies. This means we are uniquely placed to help our clients to resolve their most complex legal issues, wherever they may be in the world.

What client deal from 2018 would you single out and why?

Our Funds & Investment Management team recently advised Insight Investment  on the conversion of its flagship umbrella QIAIF investment company, LDI Solutions Plus plc (Ireland's single largest umbrella fund platform, with 154 sub-funds and assets under management of approximately €53 billion), into an Irish collective asset-management vehicle.  This was accordingly the largest ever platform (both in number of sub-funds and value of assets) to use the ICAV Act procedure to convert from an investment company to an ICAV.