Managing partners of some of Ireland’s top firms tell Ben Haugh about the biggest legal challenges that businesses should be aware of this year.

ACTIVITY

The Irish market has been buoyant in the past year and this is continuing where property, litigation and commercial remain strong.

Our fee income increased significantly last year and we continue to concentrate on niche areas including corporate and commercial, employment, litigation and dispute resolution, property, and asset and debt recovery.

All practice areas in the firm have grown and we anticipate that they will continue to develop.

Our client base is largely indigenous Irish companies and successful entrepreneurs, who in the main are unaffected by external factors in international trade.

CHALLENGES

Similar to a lot of medium-sized Irish firms, we have encountered recruitment challenges, although we have greatly benefited from our trainee programme and, where possible, have retained our trainees once they qualify as solicitors

OUTLOOK

The number of UK firms opening offices in Ireland appears to have stabilised, while in the domestic market there have been several mergers between medium sized and larger firms.

We believe that we are a niche player in a number of commercial markets, including corporate, employment, litigation and property.

We have positioned ourselves as large enough to service significant transactions while also being approachable and flexible enough to provide a first-rate service which clients demand.

We are moving to a notably larger and more modern office this year with a view to expanding the firm.

INNOVATION

We continue to use advanced processing and reporting systems, particularly in process-driven litigation and in some aspects of conveyancing.

In addition, artificial intelligence has now advanced to a stage where it can be a useful tool for lawyers in assisting with advice for the benefit of clients, resulting in reduced costs.