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Maples and Calder (Ireland) LLP, the Maples Group's law firm in Ireland, has announced the appointment of Lorna Smith as a partner in its financial services regulatory practice. Ms Smith joins the firm having previously worked at two other large Irish law firms and a Big Four accountancy firm. She w

Sports lawyer Patrick Conliffe has been appointed to lead the new Dublin office of sports management company Quantum Sport. Mr Conliffe is a dual-qualified Irish and English solicitor and a registered intermediary with the FA. He takes on the new role while continuing to practise as a solicitor with

UK law firm TLT, which employs around 100 people in Belfast, has entered into a strategic alliance with Belgian law firm GSJ advocaten. The firms have significant expertise in common across a number of sectors including real estate, financial services, retail and the public sector, enabling cross bo

A new category of membership has been created for the UK to preserve its standing in the Council of European Bars and Law Societies (CCBE) after the end of the Brexit transition period. Fears that the UK delegation would be relegated to a lower status have been allayed with the announcement of 'affi

Plans to allow Ireland to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) by 2023 form part of the prison inspectorate's first-ever strategic plan. The Office of the Inspector of Prisons yesterday published a three-year strategic plan for the period up to and including 2023, w

A barrister for the Director of Public Prosecutions has said she had "grave concerns" over the cross-examination of a 12-year-old boy who was repeatedly raped by his father. At a Court of Appeal hearing yesterday, Pauline Walley SC said that the child "zoned out" and became "fed up", "exhausted" and

A woman who wants to bring family law proceedings against her allegedly violent former partner has launched a High Court challenge over the Legal Aid Board's refusal to fund her action. The mother-of-two, who is reliant on social welfare payments, claims that her application for legal aid was turned

Benjamin Bestgen gives readers an overview of smart contracts this week. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Part of being a lawyer in the 21st century is the necessity to develop a degree of digital literacy, whether you like it or not. The legal world, it is often said, tends to be conservat

A woman declared dead by a court is still struggling to undo the ruling more than three years after pointing out she's still alive. Jeanne Pouchain, a 58-year-old from a town near the French city of Lyon, was ruled dead in 2017 during a long-running dispute with a former employee.

The High Court has found that two plaintiffs are entitled to the costs of an interlocutory application. However, as there is ongoing litigation between the parties, the judge held that they would hear submissions, and was prepared to stay the execution of that order pending the trial. Background

GQ|Littler, the UK arm of one of the world's largest employment law firms, has announced its expansion into Dublin under the leadership of partner Niall Pelly. Littler, which has a headcount of more than 1,600 lawyers, expands into its 25th country with the appointment of Mr Pelly from a rival Irish

Belfast-based MKB Law has announced the appointment of Aoife McCann as a solicitor in its family law team. A graduate of Queen's University Belfast and the IPLS, Ms McCann undertakes cases such as divorce and separation, domestic violence, children’s contact and adoption, public law Care Order

Barristers should be included in the "key worker" category for the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine, the Bar Council of Ireland has said.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has encouraged women lawyers to apply to be granted the title of senior counsel this year. The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) last month announced the opening of applications for the second round of the patents of precedence process.

Northern Ireland's human rights watchdog has launched legal action against the government over its failure to commission and fund abortion services. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission yesterday announced it had lodged judicial review proceedings in the High Court against the Secretary of S