Publications

Transition

Whilst I have been getting used to my new role over the last few months, I have found it challenging but rewarding on a personal and professional level. I was fortunate to take over a strong and vibrant firm which has been led by Declan Moylan for the last nine years. Declan’s vision was to hold on steadfastly to our uncompromising standards of legal excellence and to market and develop our business both home and abroad. As a result of his ambition, hard work and determination, he has handed over to me a progressive and efficient firm that has been very successful under his leadership. Of course with that comes the daunting challenge for me to live up to the standards that have gone before and to set ourselves new objectives and aspirations for the coming years. I am pleased and privileged to steer Mason Hayes & Curran through the next three years with the support of my partners and all the staff and I will be giving regular updates on progress in future editions of the MHC TIMES.

Ireland and its Economy

Of course Declan could do nothing about the economy and it is also a daunting time to take over a role when all of the indicators are that Ireland has slowed down considerably. Much debate goes on as to whether or not we are in recession. This is not the case. Ireland continues to have a growth pattern and Ireland is well geared towards its ambition to provide a knowledge economy and a high performance orientated Ireland Inc. The challenge for this firm is to align itself to ensure that it emulates a similar growth pattern.

There is no doubt that the market has changed. However, we see such changes as opportunities and challenges for our firm. The firm has many and varied practice areas with no over-reliance on any particular department. As things stand, our view of the market place in which we practise is to proceed at this time in a boldly cautious way. MHC has a unique position in the market. We concentrate on lawyer excellence and align ourselves with our client to provide ultra specialist legal services.

Practice Areas

Later in the magazine, you will read details of the firm’s turnover which we published last month. Although this is common practice in other jurisdictions, MH & C is uniquely the only firm in Ireland to so do.

There is one growth area worth mentioning specifically and that is the financial services department, one of the fastest developing in the firm. At the end of the financial year, revenues have increased by 50% over the previous year. This is a worthy example of the way in which the firm aligns a practice area with the growth of the financial services industry in the Irish economy.

I commend you to review the transactional work which appears in the form of a tombstone on page 5. You will see that MH & C was involved in all of the major deals during 2007 and the first quarter of 2008. While the difficult funding environment has resulted in a change in deals, I share David O’Donnell’s view that the market is still buoyant and a different type of purchaser is now becoming a player in the transactional market.

The rapid growth of the Irish economy has resulted in significant wealth. It is for this reason that we have also concentrated on our private client unit with a view to providing excellent legal service to personal clients who require a broad range of services.

The Future

I intend to focus over the next three years on taking this firm to the next level. This will involve further growth and maintained investment in lawyer excellence. This will ensure that MH & C continues to be the advisors of choice for premium domestic and international business.