Michael specialises in commercial and corporate disputes, including financial services litigation, shareholder and contractual disputes, property disputes, landlord and tenant issues, and tax disputes.

Michael advises on high-value and complex disputes across all industry sectors. He is highly experienced in relation to risk management, formal litigation (including in the Irish Commercial Court), regulatory investigations, and alternative dispute resolution procedures such as arbitration and mediation. Michael advises Irish and international companies, professional services firms, financial institutions, statutory/government bodies, private equity funds, pension and investment funds. Michael speaks regularly at industry events on all aspects of litigation prevention and resolution and tutors at the Law Society of Ireland’s Diploma in Commercial Litigation course.

Relevant Experience

• Acting for BNY Mellon in the defence of a €412 million claim by the liquidators of a Cayman-registered and domiciled hedge fund to which it provided fund administration and accounting services
• Advising a global pharmaceutical company on the successful resolution of a high-value warranty claim arising from a recent corporate transaction
• Advising a major international plc in relation to a regulatory investigation into the adequacy of its market disclosures
• Acting for the Musgrave Group in the successful defence of an injunction application by a shopping centre landlord seeking to enforce a “keep open” covenant in a lease. This was the first such successful defence in the Irish courts
• Acting for Canada Life (subsidiary of Great West Lifeco Inc.) in relation to a significant tax dispute with the Irish Revenue Commissioners arising from Canada Life’s €1.3 billion purchase of Irish Life from the Minister for Finance. We succeeded at both tax appeal and Irish High Court levels
• Advising a multi-national aviation client on the successful resolution of an Irish Revenue Commissioners investigation into its work practices
• Advising a top-four worldwide accounting and auditing firm in relation to risk issues and their joinder as a third party to Irish Commercial Court proceedings alleging negligence in the performance of audits
• Advising the National Oil Reserves Agency, an Irish statutory body, in relation to the successful resolution of an illegal trespass on a key strategic oil site in Dublin and an underlying contractual dispute
• Advising a global professional services firm regarding the successful resolution of a complex partnership dispute
• Acting for an Irish renewable energy developer in the successful resolution of a dispute with the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (the Irish energy regulator)