Careers

Learn more

Qualified professionals

Learn more

Trainee & intern programmes

Learn more

Offices

New York

Learn more

San Francisco

Learn more
A&L Goodbody logo

Legal Updates & Insights

  • article

    Court of Appeal upholds finding of defamation, makes declaration of breach of constitutional right to privacy

    ​In Nolan v Sunday Newspapers Ltd [2019] IECA 141, Peart J. found for the court that the High Court (O'Connor J sitting without a jury) had been correct in holding that two publications by the defendant were defamatory, in that they had given the impression that the plaintiff was 'a principal organiser of orgies in the State with a lurking undertone of criminality'.

    Disputes
  • article

    Second Shareholders’ Rights Directive

    SRD II contains transparency provisions which are applicable specifically to AIFMs, UCITS ManCos and SMICs.

    Asset Management & Investment Funds
  • article

    Supreme Court upholds Ireland’s mandatory reporting obligation for serious crimes

    Ireland has unique mandatory reporting laws. These laws require individuals/entities to report to the authorities certain information concerning third parties' involvement in certain crimes, including 'white collar' crimes, unless they have a 'reasonable excuse' for not doing so.

    Disputes
  • article

    Recording “Working Time” – important new EU decision clarifies the law

    Last week the European Court of Justice (the CJEU) delivered a significant judgment that all employers need to be aware of. In short, the CJEU held that employers must have a suitable system in place to ensure they are recording employees' daily and weekly working hours. As Ireland's working time legislation already requires employers to keep such records, this case may not have the...

    Employment
  • article

    Arbitration agreement still enforceable notwithstanding summary judgment proceedings

    In Ocean Point Development Company Ltd. (in receivership) v. Patterson Bannon Architects Ltd & ors  [2019] IEHC 311 the High Court held that a dispute between property development company and a construction company was a matter for arbitration and not for the High Court where both parties had agreed to be bound by an arbitration clause in their contract. This was despite a previous summary judg...

    Disputes
  • article

    Central Bank’s AML/CTF Guidelines for the Financial Sector currently being finalised

    In December 2018 the Central Bank published a consultation exercise on revised AML/CTF guidelines (the Guidelines) for the financial sector. The Guidelines set out the expectations of the Central Bank regarding the factors that firms should take into account when identifying, assessing and managing ML/TF risks. The consultation exercise ended on 5 April 2019.  Submissions on the draft Guideli...

  • article

    Litigation privilege claim fails on ‘dominant purpose’ ground

    ​In Kelland Homes Ltd v Ballytherm Ltd [2019] IEHC 2019, the third named defendant, Covestro BV, failed to discharge the onus of proving that the dominant purpose of a series of eight emails was for apprehended litigation, and their claim of litigation privilege failed. The Plaintiff, a developer, had used insulation that was manufactured using a pre-mixed foam supplied by Covestro in the cons...

    Disputes
  • article

    The ‘Ordinary Reasonable Reader’ in the Social Media Age

    The role of the judge or jury in a defamation case is to determine how the ordinary reasonable reader understands alleged defamatory material. In the case of Stocker v Stocker (2019) UKSC 17 examines how it applies to social media and provides guidance for analysing the meaning of words published on digital platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

    Litigation & Dispute Resolution Belfast
  • article

    Closure of doors linking retail spaces amounted to a material breach of planning permission

    In Camiveo Ltd v. Dunnes Stores, the Court of Appeal upheld a finding of the High Court that Dunnes Stores were in breach of the planning permission for Edward Square Shopping Centre in Galway by permanently closing doors that facilitated a pedestrian link between that premises and Eyre Square Shopping Centre. It found that the closure of the doors constituted a breach of covenants in the lease...

    Disputes
  • publication

    Re-domiciling to Ireland as an ICAV

    The Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicles Act 2015 (Act) provides for the re-domiciliation of non-Irish corporate funds into Ireland as ICAVs. The Act states that a migrating body may apply to the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) to be registered as an ICAV by way of continuation.

    Asset Management & Investment Funds
  • article

    Managing Mental Health in the Workplace

    Mental health is one of the main causes of absence from work, with 'work-related stress' being cited as the most common mental health condition causing absence. A recent study found that Northern Ireland is the UK region with the highest level of employees who have identified feeling stressed at work (85%). It is critical for businesses to ensure they meet their legal obligations and duties to...

    Belfast
  • FinTech in Ireland 2019
    publication

    FinTech in Ireland 2019

    An overview of the fintech landscape in Ireland

    Client Tech