Opinion

Katie McAuliffe, senior associate at Mason Hayes & Curran, explores the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare litigation. COVID-19 has placed the world in virtual lockdown. In an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus, the Irish government introduced travel restrictions limiting travel to essenti

Ronan Daly Jermyn partner Brian Hunt and solicitor Michael Quinlan take a look at the ambitious plans for legislative reforms in the insurance sector. Fuelled by cycle of rising and falling insurance premiums, the high level of personal injury awards, and a series of high-profile successes against f

Dorit McCann, partner at Beauchamps, considers whether firms emerging from the COVID-19 crisis with access to financing can use the "failing firm defence" to justify acquisitions of competitive businesses. COVID-19 has turned our world upside down but, while it presents great challenges to many busi

Colin Russell, trainee solicitor at William Fry, considers a recent European Court of Justice ruling that copyright protection can apply to a product's shape. In a case concerning the Brompton folding bicycle, a Belgian court sought a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on wh

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates examines a recent case concerning disability discrimination at work. The issue of what constitutes a disability for the purposes of the Employment Equality Act 1998 as amended was addressed in some detail in case ADJ-000

Benjamin Bestgen gives readers an introduction to feminist legal philosophy in his latest primer. See his last one here. It might not surprise readers that the majority of philosophical and legal works (including laws) over the course of human history to date were created by men. The reasons for thi

Cathy Colton, partner at Carson McDowell, considers the legal pitfalls for businesses considering changes to licensed premises following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. Businesses across the hospitality and leisure industry here are understandably keen to plan ahead for reopening following the

Jason O'Sullivan, solicitor and public affairs consultant at J.O.S Solicitors, offers a practical guide to Irish businesses on steps to take in preparation for the coronavirus crisis. As the COVID-19 crisis continues, albeit with easing of current restrictions, disruption is still present in every s

William Fry trainee solicitor Karolina Rozhnova considers a recent case in which Twitter was ordered by the High Court to disclose information about a parody account. The High Court has ordered Twitter to disclose information about the identity of creators and controllers of a parody account using t

Having thought about truth, Benjamin Bestgen now considers lies. See his last jurisprudential primer here. In Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift lets Captain Gulliver explain to the Houyhnhnms, a race of highly intelligent horses dedicated to reason and truth, that lawyers are: intrinsically c

Ronan Daly Jermyn solicitor Hilda Mannix, partner Darryl Broderick and trainee Chris Murray consider the strategies lenders and loan purchasers should consider when met with allegations of fraud as a defence in enforcement proceedings. Lenders and loan purchasers may find themselves faced with an al

Scottish lawyer Richard McMeeken details new proposals to deal with the contract law implications of the current crisis. Following a meeting on 7 April 2020 of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law attended by (among others) Lord Neuberger, Lord Phillips, Sir David Edward and Si

In the tenth in his series on jurisprudential primers, Benjamin Bestgen looks at how the law might handle cognitive enhancements as new drugs are developed and our perceptions change. The movie Limitless deals with a struggling author who is given a drug that vastly increases his cognitive abil

Eversheds Sutherland partner Matthew Howse explores what the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill means for businesses in Northern Ireland. There are decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen. This certainly seems the case in terms of Insolvency reforms. The UK Government’

Barrister Mark O'Connell reminds employers of their health and safety responsibilities to employees working from home. Without doubt – and even when the current disruption caused by COVID-19 abates – a much greater proportion of employees will be fulfilling more of their duties from home