Emmet Scully becomes LK Shields managing partner in leadership shake-up

Dublin firm LK Shields has announced significant leadership changes that are due to come into effect from 1 January 2017.

Emmet Scully, currently head of the firm’s corporate and commercial team, has been elected as the firm’s new managing partner.

Mr Scully succeeds Edmund Butler, who will continue as a partner until next April, after which he will work as a consultant to the firm.

Mr Scully has been a partner in the firm since 1998 and has been at the forefront of some of the most significant Irish corporate transactions in which the firm has acted in recent years.

Michael Kavanagh is set to become the firm’s chairman, while also continuing to serve the firm’s clients as head of the litigation and dispute resolution team. He has been a partner in the firm since 1999 and is a former Chairman of the Law Society’s Litigation Committee.

Meanwhile, Aoife Bradley has been appointed to lead the firm’s employment and pensions team.

Ms Bradley, a partner since 2007, has a strong reputation in the area of senior executive disputes and advises large corporates and internationals on dismissals, employment injunctions, discrimination, redundancy, occupational stress claims and disciplinary investigations.

Commenting on the announcement, outgoing managing partner Edmund Butler said: “LK Shields has thrived on the expertise of growing teams of specialists and the skills they bring to domestic and international clients in corporate and commercial law and in dispute resolution. Like all successful businesses, we have focused on leadership succession planning and our new leadership structure will maintain that policy as the firm continues to thrive and deliver excellent service to our clients.”

“It was an honour to serve as Managing Partner of the firm and to lead LK Shields during a period of growth and development of the firm’s scale, teams and services. I look forward to continuing to support the firm and its clients as they navigate some of the most challenging and complex situations in corporate and commercial law.”