Our People

• University College Dublin (BBLS)
• University College Dublin (Dip Emp Law)

• Co-Chair of the International Labor Law Subcommittee of the Employment Rights and Responsibilities Section of the ABA.
• International Labor Law Committee
• European Lawyers Association.

Melanie is a Partner practising in Employment Law. She is involved in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law on both the employer and employee side. Melanie regularly assists clients in drafting employment contracts, agreements and HR policies and procedures. She also provides ongoing support to HR managers in relation to internal reorganisations and rationalisations, terminations, and audits of employment related documentation.  In contentious areas, Melanie is regularly involved in employment related civil actions including injunctions, actions for breach of contract, employer liability claims and personal injury actions for stress and bullying. She regularly appears before the High and Circuit Courts and the Employment Appeals Tribunal. 

Melanie also regularly lectures to various organisations on employment law and the legal aspects of bullying, harassment and stress in the workplace.  She is also one of the internal examiners in employment law for the Law School of the Law Society of Ireland and is a contributor to the Irish chapter of the International Expatriate Employment Handbook.  She has also contributed to a publication on European Employment Law, Jordans Company Administration and Governance, and had co-authored a chapter on restrictive covenants for an upcoming publication on international and cross border restrictive covenants.

Areas of Expertise:

• Employment law
• Industrial relations law
• Immigration law

Representative Matters:

• Clients include DSG plc; Facebook; Arvato Financial; Specsavers; Symantec Inc. ;The Health & Safety Authority; The Legal Aid Board; Tourism Ireland;The Food Safety Authority – safefood; National Museum of Ireland.

Education:

• University College Dublin (BBLS)
• University College Dublin (Dip Emp Law)

Membership:

• Member of the International Labor Law Section of the American Bar Association (ABA).
• Co-Chair of the International Labor Law Subcommittee of the Employment Rights and Responsibilities Section of the ABA.
• Member of the International Labor Law Section of the ABA.
• Member of the American Employment Law Council (AELC).
• Member of the European Employment Lawyers Association (EELA).
• Member of the Association of Employment Lawyers Ireland (ELAI).

Speaking Engagements and Teaching:

• Lecturer in Employment Law on the Law Society’s Diploma in Employment Law.
• Moderated a panel discussion on “International Perspectives on Executive Incentive Plans” for the ABA in San Diego in March 2010.
• Participated in a panel discussion on Transnational Employment Contracts for the ABA in Chicago in November 2010.
• Spoke at a joint New York State Bar / Cornell University conference on International Labor Law in March 2008.
• Regularly delivers training programmes on employment law compliance in both the public and private sector.
• Regularly delivers training on bullying and harassment in the work place for the Public Affairs Institute.
• Voted the best speaker award at the 2011 annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) - Europe's largest professional institute for people management and development.
• Melanie often appears in the Sunday Business Post, the Industrial Relations News and various other publications as a commentator on employment related issues.
• Melanie is also a contributor to several books to include the Irish chapter of the International Expatriate Employment Handbook, the Irish chapter of EU and International Employment Law, the Irish chapter of Employment and Labour Law - Jurisdictional Comparisons and the Irish chapter of Restrictive Covenants and Trade Secrets in Employment Law - An International Survey.

Recommendations:

Chambers Europe - Europe's Leading Business Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, 2011.
Melanie is recommended as a Leader in her Field in the 'Employment' category, where she 'handles a broad range of matters, stretching from HR advisory work to major employment disputes. Her recent activity has included restructurings and unfair dismissal cases.'

Chambers Europe - Europe's Leading Business Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, 2010.
Melanie is recommended as a Leader in her Field in the ‘Employment’ category.  She is a highly rated employment lawyer with experience in the full range of employment matters.  “She gives the practice its business focus”.

Chambers Europe - Europe's Leading Business Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, 2009.
Melanie is recommended as a Leader in her Field in the ‘Employment’ category.

Chambers Europe - Europe's Leading Business Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, 2008.
Melanie was described as "practical with a good business sense" and was particularly praised for her work for international clients with operations in Ireland "she has an appreciation of the needs of multinational companies. She understands the issues and how to resolve them".

Melanie also now ranked in Who'sWhoLegal for Management Labour and Employment 2011.