Opinion

Writing for Irish Legal News, barrister Andrew McKeown interrogates the insurance industry's narrative about the effect of litigation on insurance premiums in Ireland. With debate raging over so-called "compensation culture", the insurance corporations blame rising premiums solely on lawyers and the

Julie Galbraith, employment partner at Eversheds Sutherland in Dublin, looks at the coronavirus outbreak from the perspective of Irish employers. The spread of the ‘Wuhan coronavirus’ is a global concern with the World Health Organisation now declaring a global emergency and, at the time

Scottish solicitor advocate Ronald Conway responds from the perspective of a lawyer in the UK to Michael Upton's recent reflections on Brexit. So John Cleese famously asked in The Life of Brian.

Joanne Ryan, associate at William Fry, examines a recent decision that answers a question that arose for practitioners from the Supreme Court judgment in Merck Sharp & Dohme. As my colleagues have discussed previously (here and here), the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Merck Sharp &

On the centenary of the Government of Ireland Act 1920, this piece of legislation will be recalled for effecting the partition of Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. What may be overlooked is that David Lloyd George’s Government of Ireland Act 1920 included a subsection which p

Senior Scottish advocate Michael Upton reflects on the UK's departure from the European Union. So Brexit is done.

Arthur Cox partners Karen Killoran and Niav O'Higgins look at a recent judgment on performance bonds, which are widely used in the construction industry as a means of protecting employers against non-performance or financial default by the contractor. If such circumstances arise, it is important tha

The first Republican Lord Mayor of Cork, Tomás Mac Curtáin, was born on 20 March 1884 in the townland of Ballyknockane, about fifteen miles north of Cork City. When he was 13, Tomás moved to the Blackpool area of Cork City, where he attended North Monastery secondary school. It

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates looks at the law surrounding gig economy workers. The issue of who is an employee arose in the Workplace Relations Commission in case ADJ-00020358 involving a trainer and a training agency. The trainer is a doctor.

Family lawyer Sarah Elliott of Worthingtons Solicitors examines the law when unmarried families break up. With Boris Johnson and his partner, Carrie Symonds becoming the first unmarried couple to enter 10 Downing Street, this reflects a growing trend, with cohabiting families becoming the fastest gr

Dr Eoin O'Dell, associate professor of law at Trinity College Dublin, examines a situation that has cropped up from the Circuit Civil Court in Dublin to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg. Without my first cup of coffee, I don’t function in the mornings. So, it’s no

Edward “Ned” Kelly was a famous Irish-Australian bushranger and outlaw who was executed in November 1880. Part I, Part II and Part III of this series were published last year. As the pressure to capture Ned Kelly and his associates heightened, police began closely monitoring the homes of

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates examines the law on protected disclosures. The issue of what a protected disclosure is arose in case ADJ-00023777. The Adjudication Officer in this case helpfully set this out, namely the issues set out in section 5 of the Pr

Ronan Daly Jermyn partner Jennifer Cashman and solicitor Alan Devaney consider whether a recent UK employment equality decision recognising ethical veganism as a belief protected by law could be replicated in Ireland. An employment tribunal in the UK found, in the case of Casamitjana v League Agains

Mason Hayes & Curran partner Deirdre Munnelly and associate Aisling Pierce examine a recent judgment criticising lawyers who refer their clients for specialist medical evaluation in the absence of a referral from the client’s primary treating doctor. On appeal to the High Court, two person