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Joe O'Malley - Managing Partner

Joe is Managing Partner and Head of the Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution team at Hayes solicitors.

He is widely recognised as a leading professional in commercial litigation and dispute resolution, acting for clients in landmark, complex, high-value cases. He is a trusted adviser to major clients in a wide range of sectors on commercial and corporate matters and is a leading practitioner of media and defamation law.

Expertise

Joe is Managing Partner and Head of the Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution team at Hayes solicitors.

In his commercial litigation and dispute resolution work, Joe is recognised as a strategic and highly effective adviser in complex and sensitive cases. He acts for major clients from a wide range of sectors, including advertising and media, banking and financial services, insurance, pharmaceuticals, property, State entities and transportation. He advises on and represents client interests in a range of commercial and corporate matters, ranging from media law and reputation management to corporate restructuring and insolvency.

Experience

  • Represented the Irish State and a global pharmaceutical manufacturer in the defence of vaccine claims concerning H1N1.
  • Acted for a Swiss Bank in the defence of a multi-million euro claim recently before the Commercial Court.
  • Represents M.U.T. 103 Limited (in liquidation) in relation to claims exceeding €100m arising from the Dolphin Trust investments in Germany.
  • Represented IBRC (in special liquidation) in its €6bn claim against former directors of Irish Nationwide.
  • Acted for one of Ireland’s leading businessmen in relation to commercial court litigation proceedings concerning the redevelopment of the Setanta Centre in Dublin city.
  • Advises several State entities in relation to highly sensitive litigation, including civil proceedings arising out of the Disclosures Tribunal and Thalidomide litigation.
  • Acted for a defendant in the Belfry litigation, involving more than 300 claims arising out of property investments in the UK.
  • Represented one of Ireland’s main truck dealers in relation to mass litigation before the Competition Court arising out of a finding by the European Commission of a truck cartel.
  • Advises a national newspaper on all aspects of media law.
  • Represented a plaintiff in a defamation action involving the highest jury award ever made in the State.
  • Acted for Worldspreads Limited (in special liquidation) in a high value (over GBP 20m) professional negligence claim against its auditors.
  • Acted for the liquidator of Cork Medical Centre (in voluntary liquidation) in a multi-million euro claim against VHI for refusal to provide cover for this hospital facility.
  • Advised on the winding up of the oldest stockbroking firm in the State and on related Central Bank investigations.

Other

Joe is former President of the Dublin Solicitors’ Bar Association and a former Council Member of the Law Society of Ireland. He is currently chair of the Law Society’s Litigation Committee and he also chairs Danske Bank’s Tracker Mortgage Redress Appeals Panel. Joe lectures to a number of professional and regulatory bodies on his practice areas including the Law Society of Ireland, the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland and Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

He contributes to various legal publications including The Parchment, published by the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association.

Qualifications/Education

  • Bachelor of Civil Law Degree, University College Dublin
  • Master of Laws in Commercial Law, University College Dublin
  • Professional qualification as a solicitor, Law Society of Ireland, 2002
  • Diploma in Applied Finance Law, Law Society of Ireland


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