Martin Browne

Mr Browne, a former partner with Beale & Co, will help expand HF Ireland and support its ambitions to carry out cross-border litigation and defend claims anywhere in the UK and Ireland.

He has extensive experience in defence personal injuries litigation, specifically public liability, employers’ liability and motor claims, from minor claims to catastrophic claims and including multi-party actions across all courts and forums. He also has significant experience in contentious professional indemnity matters.

Mr Browne joins a rapidly growing team which includes partner Eva Bashford, who joined HF Ireland last year.

Christian Carlyle has joined the firm as an associate solicitor. He has strong litigation experience, having worked in Irish defence litigation since 2016 and most recently has acted primarily in personal injury litigation as well as advising in relation to coverage/policy issues and disputes.

Emmet Cahill and Ilze Rozentale have both joined as solicitors, building on their previous defence litigation experience and continuing to work in the busy casualty department defending actions arising from employer’s liability, public liability and occupier’s liability claims for a wide range of organisations across all industries including construction, leisure, hospitality and retail.

Carina Schauer has also joined as legal executive and will work alongside Mr Browne and his team on various employer’s liability, public liability and motor liability claims. The Irish office will also be supported by its new office manager, Linda Brennan.

Ronan McCann, CEO and managing partner at HF, said: “Martin Browne is an excellent addition to our team and we’re delighted that he will be heading up our Dublin office. He’s engaging, experienced and has his finger on the pulse on all current legal trends — the clear choice for us when looking for someone to lead our Irish operations.

“We’re also thrilled to welcome Christian, Emmet, Ilze, Carina and Linda to the team, one that is going from strength to strength. Having been born in Dublin and grown up in Armagh, I have for some time wanted to bring HF to Ireland both north and south. This is only the first step in HF’s investment in Ireland and we fully expect there to be many more.”

Mr Browne added: “I’m really excited to be joining HF and to be leading its Irish office as we continue to grow as a business. The opportunity to be part of a growing business and to lead its growth in the Irish market is something I could simply not refuse.

“We already had a fantastic team and Christian, Emmet, Ilze, Carina and Linda joining complements this further. We’re all proud to be a part of the wider HF team and look forward to the future here.”