Brian O'Malley is a partner in A&L Goodbody’s Restructuring and Insolvency group and also specialises in commercial litigation. Brian acts for insolvency practitioners, companies and creditors on complex restructuring and insolvency mandates. He has significant experience in liquidations, receiverships, examinerships and restructurings, both formal and informal. Brian also advises banks and private equity houses on loan sale transactions and on their work out strategies, both consensual and contentious.
Brian also has experience as an in-house lawyer, having completed a secondment with private equity firm, Lone Star Funds.
Areas of Expertise
Restructuring & Insolvency/Financial Services Litigation
Experience Advising:
- Aviation Capital Group LLC on the examinership of Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA and its Irish operations.
- Landlords, including DWS and IPUT plc, on the insolvencies of high profile corporate tenants, including New Look, Laura Ashley, Aldo.
- ABB Limited and Component Distributors Limited on High Court applications for declaratory relief and vesting orders under the Trustee Act 1893.
- The special liquidators of IBRC on all aspects of the largest and most complex liquidation undertaken in Ireland.
- Ladbrokes on the successful restructuring of its Irish business via examinership.
- Bain Capital and Sankaty Advisors on various mandates, including trading receiverships, examinership, loan sales, and regulatory compliance.
- Institutional banks – including Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, plc – on various mandates, including Commercial Court litigation, work-out options and debt settlement arrangements in respect of distressed corporate borrowers.
- Private equity firms – including Lone Star Funds, Goldman Sachs, CarVal and Cerberus – on their work-out strategies, including largescale security enforcement, High Court and Commercial Court litigation, injunctions, and bankruptcy proceedings.
- Boards of directors on the financial difficulties of companies – advising on directors' fiduciary duties, contingency planning, Irish insolvency law considerations regarding material transactions.
- PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and Grant Thornton on the receivership, liquidation and examinership appointments.
Market Recommendations
"Clever management of difficult to resolve issues." (IFLR1000 2024)
"Brian is very commercially aware, pragmatic and unflappable." (Chambers and Partners 2024)
"Brian is a very strong restructuring attorney. He is precise, thoughtful and provides sound advice on complex matters." (Chambers and Partners 2024)
"Brian O’Malley did a great job running the matter. His advice was always clear, comprehensive and to-the-point." (Legal 500 2023)
"Brian O’Malley is very sensible, pragmatic, balanced and user-friendly." (Legal 500 2023)
Professional activities
Brian is a member of INSOL Europe and the Irish Society of Insolvency Practitioners and sits on ISIP's Representation Committee. Brian has also co-authored the Irish chapter of 'The Art of the Pre-Pack', Global Restructuring Review, and Examinership: overview (Ireland), Thomson Reuters Practical Law.
Education
- Solicitor, Law Society of Ireland
- MSc in the Business of Law, UCD Smurfit Graduate Business School, Dublin
- LLB, National University of Ireland, Galway
- BA (Legal Science and French), National University of Ireland, Galway
Brian O’Malley
Partner,
Restructuring & Insolvency
Dublin