DAC Beachcroft Dublin An international law firm in Ireland
DAC Beachcroft Dublin DAC Beachcroft Dublin specialises in insurance, professional indemnity, defendant personal injury, health, commercial litigation, employment and commercial and regulatory work. We offer a local service to all clients, whether based in Ireland, the UK or elsewhere. Our team of partners, lawyers and support staff work together to provide a client-led service which responds swiftly and effectively to all matters. Since the inception of our Dublin office we have established ourselves as one of Ireland s fastest growing and most recognised firms within our areas of expertise. We have achieved this by providing a unique offering which can be tailored to the specific requirements of each of our clients. We provide this bespoke service incorporating sound, pragmatic and commercial advice in a cost effective way, and by adopting fee arrangements which reflect the commercial needs of our clients. DAC Beachcroft Dublin is part of DAC Beachcroft LLP, an international law firm comprising in excess of 2,200 staff and benefiting from the depth and reach of a legal network with coverage across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and North America. Our clients benefit from the management and quality systems of a truly international law firm. We are one of the few Irish law firms which has achieved the ISO9001 quality standard and ISO27001 certification for our information security procedures. We have also attained the Gold Standard for Investors in People. Our services are modelled on providing quality, value and cost certainty to our clients.
Global coverage North America Canada (in association with McCague Borlack) Harmonie Group (international member providing coverage throughout North America) New York (representative office) Europe Belgium (representative office) Ireland (DAC Beachcroft Dublin) Spain UK Harmonie Europe Latin America Brazil (associations with JBO Advocacia and Wongtschowski & Zanotta) Chile (DAC Beachcroft Chile) Colombia (DAC Beachcroft Colombia) Mexico Asia Pacific India (joint venture with KS s) New Zealand (DAC Beachcroft New Zealand Ltd) Malaysia (association with Gan ship) Singapore
Professional indemnity We represent the interests of many leading professional indemnity insurers across the broadest range of professional liability. DAC Beachcroft Dublin offers a comprehensive dispute resolution service at the highest possible level, working with insurers, key brokers and insureds in risk assessment and improvement. Our team deals exclusively with professional indemnity disputes and has considerable experience of claims across all professions. Our specialist claims handling service enables us to offer a comprehensive professional indemnity service. It is fundamental to every part of our service to be pragmatic and proactive. Each case management strategy is geared towards anticipating and preventing problems before they become major issues. We work with all parties to find solutions through compromise, mediation or alternative dispute resolution, rather than litigation. Where litigation is unavoidable, we minimise the impact. We are acutely aware of the reputational and financial impact professional negligence claims can have and we offer pragmatic and focused solutions, specifically tailored to the needs of our clients and the claims they face. The result is a rigorous approach to helping insurers manage their money, legal budgets and reserves. We strive to develop close, long-term working relationships with our clients and their key partners and insureds via client relationship partners who ensure the team delivers a personal service as well as highly interfaced IT systems. In building and maintaining relationships we aim to deliver the best possible service in the sector. For further information please contact: Katie da Gama, T +353 1 231 9696 E kdagama@dacbeachcroft.com Noreen Howard, T +353 1 231 9682 E nhoward@dacbeachcroft.com
Healthcare Our healthcare team offers specialist medical defence litigation, clinical risk and risk management expertise. The Dublin-based team has a wealth of experience in the Irish health sector, spanning decades. Ann O Driscoll, who heads the team, was a nurse and midwife before taking up a career in law. Our areas of expertise include: Defending medical malpractice claims. We are currently on the State Claims Agency panel of solicitors for the Clinical Indemnity Scheme. Defending employer liability/public liability (EL/PL) claims brought against healthcare facilities. We are currently on the panel for both the State Claims Agency and Irish Public Bodies EL/PL claims. Advising healthcare organisations on clinical risk and medico-legal matters, in both emergency situations and on an ongoing basis. Representing healthcare organisations and professionals at inquests, before the Medical Council and other statutory inquiries. Practical assistance and guidance to healthcare providers on the management of complaints, development of clinical governance strategies and the implementation of risk management programmes. Assisting healthcare organisations to attain accreditation status. This service is unique to DAC Beachcroft Dublin and involves onsite pre-accreditation risk surveys including reviewing and advising on policies, practices and procedures. We have assisted a number of healthcare organisations in achieving accreditation status. Provision of medico-legal lectures and risk management workshops. Our healthcare team have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the Irish healthcare system and are passionately committed to working with healthcare organisations to improve standards of patient care and reduce claims. For more information about us please contact: Ann O Driscoll, T +353 1 231 9626 E aodriscoll@dacbeachcroft.com
Injury risk By adopting a very proactive and commercial approach, our injury risk team provides a service specifically designed to reduce our clients indemnity spend. Our team exclusively deals with defendant personal injury claims (EL, PL and Motor). We fully understand the importance of accurate reserving and this is a major focus for us. We are accustomed to providing detailed Management Information (MI) and being measured by challenging KPIs. We actively encourage clients to provide us with an SLA, as we welcome being measured against our competitors. We are happy to work on either a direct instruction or a delegated authority basis. Our team has successfully handled large volumes of cases as an outsource project for clients and we have experience of managing a client s former solicitors panel. We use a bespoke case management system that ensures cases are always being progressed and use detailed MI databases. We can offer our clients live access to our case management systems through a web-based portal enabling them to see exactly what stage each case is at and what work has been recently completed. We report regularly, advising on all pertinent issues. We frequently provide training to our clients. We are very happy to assist clients working with major insureds as part of, and in the run-up to, the renewal process. We seek to work with our clients to provide a fully joined-up service with brokers, claims handlers and loss adjusters. For further information or to discuss the services we provide, please contact: James Colville, T +353 1 231 9681 E jcolville@dacbeachcroft.com
Commercial litigation Our aim is to achieve the best commercial outcome for our clients whilst minimising the cost, damage and disruption to their business. DAC Beachcroft Dublin has considerable experience dealing with commercial disputes and achieving the most advantageous solutions for our clients. We work with our clients to prevent the escalation of disputes, however where this is not possible we have extensive experience in mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution together with all levels of litigation and arbitration. We have acted in a wide range of contract and commercial disputes, financial service claims, product liability actions and advising clients in the context of judicial reviews. We have acted on behalf of significant corporate entities (both domestic and international), SMEs, state bodies and individuals. Our approach to dispute resolution is simple we aim to protect our clients interests. When dealing with a dispute, we first assess the strengths and weaknesses of each party s position and identify what are likely to be the key issues in each case. We work closely with our client in order to determine and agree the most effective and efficient way to accomplish objectives in order to resolve the dispute. If a fair and equitable resolution is not possible we have considerable expertise in bringing matters to hearing. During any dispute resolution we always try to ensure that existing business relationships are preserved and not irretrievably damaged by the process. We pride ourselves on providing pragmatic, commercial advice and a responsive, cost-effective service. As a boutique litigation practice in Dublin, we are less likely than larger firms to be conflicted in taking on disputes. We can apply agile and bespoke fee arrangements to reflect a client s specific needs. For more information about us please contact: Lisa Broderick, T +353 1 231 9683 E lbroderick@dacbeachcroft.com
Employment We provide pragmatic, commercial advice on employment issues, both contentious and non-contentious. Our goal is to help clients prevent and manage the risks arising from employment relationships. We strive to resolve disputes in the manner best matching the client s needs. We advise on aspects of employers human resource issues both cost-effectively and strategically and apply innovative and bespoke fee arrangements to offer real value. We have extensive experience in advising employers and insurers across both the private and public sector. While we offer local expertise, we are part of the 100-strong team of employment lawyers within DAC Beachcroft. Our services are modelled on the management, quality and value guarantees of the international firm. Our specialist advice includes: individual and collective employment disputes, tribunal claims and litigation; internal investigations, grievances and disciplinary hearings; advising on organisational change; drafting and negotiating agreements and policies; and protecting employers financial and commercial interests and information. We also offer tailored training to help refine workplace practices and to ensure a coherent approach to key issues within organisations. For more information please contact: Barry Reynolds, T + 353 1 231 9647 E breynolds@dacbeachcroft.com
Commercial and Regulatory Facing continual changes to business and legal frameworks and ongoing pressures on services and costs, our clients rely on us for commercial and regulatory law services. We provide commercial and regulatory law services to clients across all of our industry sectors including healthcare, public, sport, retail and hospitality, insurance and the professions. We not only appreciate the high-quality service levels required but understand each sector s financial, political, regulatory and governance culture. Our services help our clients deal with the range of legal and commercial issues that they face every day, quickly and cost-effectively. Our service brings together relevant legal expertise in a package to suit each client s particular needs, producing practical solutions and robust contracts to help our clients deliver their objectives. Our team is fully integrated with colleagues across the firm. We work with all our UK offices and the firm s expertise extends to Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. We make it our business to support our clients in all aspects of organisational and commercial need by providing strategic advice and specialist legal support on: commercial contracts; statutory interpretation; corporate governance; competition law; business regulation; administrative law; freedom of information; data protection; inquiries and investigations; and health and safety Commercial and regulatory issues often require a multidisciplinary approach and we can draw on the expertise of our colleagues in other specialisms. This ensures a holistic evaluation of and approach to our clients needs. As a result, we have a strong reputation for delivering the right outcome for our clients through proactive pragmatic assistance at the right price. For further information or to discuss the services we provide, please contact: Gary Rice, T +353 1 2319654 E grice@dacbeachcroft.com
A very progressive firm with extensive knowledge of the compensation landscape in Ireland. Legal 500 EMEA 2014 Edition, Insurance, Ireland DAC Beachcroft Dublin stand out for their successful penetration of insurance markets. Legal 500 EMEA, 2013 Edition, Dublin DAC Beachcroft Dublin is going from strength to strength under regional senior partner Katie da Gama, who focuses primarily on professional negligence, healthcare risk and personal injury. Legal 500 EMEA, 2013 Edition, Insurance, Dublin DAC Beachcroft Dublin is building a quality disputes practice beyond its core focus on insurance. Legal 500 EMEA, 2013 Edition, Dispute Resolution, Dublin Active in Dublin since 2009, this firm enters the rankings on the back of enthusiastic market feedback. Chambers Europe, 2012 Edition, Insurance, Ireland
Meet the team Lisa Broderick T +353 (0) 1 231 9683 E lbroderick@dacbeachcroft.com James Colville T +353 (0) 1 231 9681 E jcolville@dacbeachcroft.com Ann O Driscoll T +353 (0) 1 231 9626 E aodriscoll@dacbeachcroft.com Katie da Gama T +353 (0) 1 231 9696 E kdagama@dacbeachcroft.com
Noreen Howard T +353 (0) 1 231 9682 E nhoward@dacbeachcroft.com Barry Reynolds T +353 (0) 1 123 19647 E breynolds@dacbeachcroft.com Gary Rice T +353 (0) 1 123 19654 E grice@dacbeachcroft.com
www.dacbeachcroft.com/dublin DAC Beachcroft 2014