David Imison

The multi-disciplinary reputation, privacy and security consultancy currently has a headquarters in London, an office in Miami and a strategic alliance with law firms Clare Locke in the US and Giles George in Australia.

Partners Ben Hobbs and Phil Hartley, dual-qualified as solicitors in Ireland and England and Wales, will be dividing their time between London and Dublin.

They will be joined by legal director John Curtin, who is also dual-qualified and will be relocating to Dublin, and new consultant partner and digital resilience expert Viv O’Connor-Jemmett.

Mr Hobbs and Mr Hartley collectively bring a wealth of expertise in the privacy and reputation sphere to the new office.

With 15 years of litigation experience, Mr Hobbs specialises in guiding FTSE 100 companies and business-owners through high stakes reputational crises and opportunities.

Mr Hartley, a media lawyer and litigator who has worked extensively in defamation, privacy, data protection, counter-harassment, confidentiality and IP law, has a particular depth of expertise in complex and contentious data privacy cases.

Legal director Mr Curtin has substantial experience protecting the reputations of prominent individuals and global companies, and a deep knowledge of the Irish market, having previously been a commercial litigation solicitor in Dublin.

Meanwhile, new consultant partner Mr O’Connor-Jemmett is an expert in digital resilience and strategic communications. He has spent 15 years advising clients — including boards and high-profile individuals — on protecting, building and optimising their profiles online.

Announcing the move today, Schillings CEO David Imison said: “Further increasing our international reach, our Dublin office is a natural next step in the strategic expansion of Schillings.

“The city is home to many of the world’s largest technology and e-commerce companies, as well as a growing cohort of highly successful entrepreneurs and business leaders.

“With this new Irish base, we are pleased to provide new and existing clients with an opportunity to access legal services in the EU.

“We believe that this — combined with our expertise in intelligence, strategic communications, diplomacy and security — creates a new and compelling offer to the Irish market.”