Ciaran O'Shiel is a partner in A&L Goodbody’s Commercial Litigation department in Belfast. He specialises in intellectual property, media and technology disputes advising domestic and international clients on defamation, privacy, data protection and content related matters.
Ciaran has acted for technology and media companies in the High Court and Court of Appeal and has an extensive intellectual property practice having represented clients in patent, copyright, breach of confidence, trademark infringement and passing off cases.
His experience also includes advising private and public organisations on business critical issues such as reputation management, regulatory risk and responding to data security incidents.
Areas of Expertise
Litigation & Dispute Resolution/Commercial & Technology/Intellectual Property/ Media/Corporate Reputation & Defamation/Disputes/Investigations
Experience Advising:
- Publishers, broadcasters and intermediaries across a range of issues including applications for injunctive relief, reporting restrictions, production orders, applications for Norwich Pharmacal relief and jurisdiction challenges.
- A public limited company and its subsidiaries in relation to group action proceedings involving thousands of data protection and privacy claims following a highly sophisticated cyber-security attack.
- An international news organisation in the successful defence of a privacy and data protection based injunction before the High Court and Court of Appeal.
- A multinational technology company in relation to High Court proceedings for online defamation and breach of data protection legislation involving safe harbour defences under the E-Commerce Directive.
- A luxury goods brand owner in relation to trademark infringement and passing off proceedings in the Commercial Court arising from the importation of counterfeit goods.
- Other recent experience includes advising on cyber incident response, regulatory investigations and complex information access requests under GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Market Recommendations
“Ciaran O'Shiel is very client-friendly, knowledgeable, and has excellent judgement. He can really guide you and gives great advice.” (Chambers UK 2021)
"He’s approachable, great at communication and gets what we’re after straight away…he offers sounds advice and knows when to push an issue and when to pause.” (Chambers UK 2020)
“Ciaran O’Shiel is an outstanding practitioner with a vast knowledge of intellectual property and privacy law…he is able to get to the heart of a problem quickly.” (Legal 500 UK 2020)
“Ciaran O’Shiel is fantastic - the best media lawyer in Northern Ireland. He has a great can do attitude.” (Legal 500 UK 2019)
Professional activities
Ciaran is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and a contributor to the London Media Law Blog, Inforrm.
Education
- Solicitor, Law Society of Northern Ireland
- LLM, Law & International Commerce, Queens University Belfast
- LLB, Law, Queens University Belfast
Ciaran O’Shiel
Partner,
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
A&L Goodbody Northern Ireland LLP