We are a national leader in the field of professional regulatory and disciplinary law. Our team has extensive experience and knowledge, and acts in numerous professional regulatory sectors, including medical and nursing, health and social care, financial and accounting, banking, legal, and policing. We advise on a wide variety of regulatory and disciplinary issues, ranging from constitutional and strategic issues, to highly-sensitive fitness to practise and other disciplinary inquiries and investigations.
Our professional regulatory team provides expert advice and representation in relation to all types of inquiries, court applications, appeals and judicial review proceedings. We also conduct our own advocacy before professional regulatory tribunals and the High Court. Our highly-experienced professional regulatory lawyers are leaders in their field, and work closely with clients to ensure the provision of focused and high-quality, clear, consistent and timely legal advice.
We also provide sector-relevant training, as well as advice concerning statutory frameworks, interpretation and governance issues. We understand that our regulatory clients operate in an increasingly complex statutory and legal environment. We ensure that our clients discharge their statutory duties and fulfil their public interest objectives effectively and efficiently.
With our deep-rooted experience in public and administrative law and dispute resolution, our team is also well equipped to deal with the many legal issues that often arise in connection with professional disciplinary proceedings, including jurisdictional, procedural and evidential issues. We also have expertise in advising on related matters including criminal prosecutions, data protection, freedom of information, defamation, human rights, statutory appeals and applications, and judicial review.
Our Services
We advise and represent clients in relation to the following issues:
• Fitness to Practise and Misconduct Inquiries & Investigations
We work with Ireland’s leading professional regulators to conduct investigations and inquiries regarding allegations against professionals, ranging from professional misconduct and poor professional performance to health-related matters. We assist our clients in preparing for a wide range of complex investigations, as well as presenting cases, including ones with multiple registrants, allegations spanning several years, and ones dealing with sensitive and vulnerable witnesses.
• Court Applications, Appeals and Judicial Review
We provide advice and representation to our clients in relation to court applications, as well as appeals, judicial review, and other proceedings in the Superior Courts. Our lawyers regularly conduct their own advocacy in High Court proceedings, both to confirm decisions of regulatory bodies, and in other matters.
• Statutory Framework, Drafting and Governance
On behalf of our professional regulatory and disciplinary clients, we have drafted a range of key documents concerning professional standards and training, as well as disciplinary codes and documents relating to investigations and inquiry hearings. Examples include drafting the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority’s application form and accompanying guidance notes for the accreditation of liquidators; the statutory instrument setting the requirements for professional indemnity cover for liquidators; the disciplinary procedures for members of the Stock Exchange; and guidance notes for other tribunals for the conduct of inquiries, and on what constitutes misconduct.
Our Clients Include:
- Medical Council
- Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland
- Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal
- Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority
- Irish Stock Exchange
- Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission
Recent Work
- Advising the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland in relation to fitness to practise inquiries concerning a wide range of complaints against nurses and midwives, including financial abuse, physical abuse, inappropriate contact with patients including on social media, medication mismanagement and complaints concerning mental health and dependency conditions
- Advising the Medical Council in relation to numerous inquiries into general practitioners’ fitness to practise. Our team has dealt with a wide range of complaints against general practitioners, ranging from failure to comply with conditions attached to their registration, failure to report notifiable diseases, and alleged unfitness to practise as a result of medical disability.
- Advising the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in relation to procedural and jurisdictional matters on an ongoing basis, including the conduct of disciplinary inquiries in accordance with the Tribunal’s Rules and the Solicitors Acts, and representing the Tribunal in respect of numerous sets of judicial review, and other, proceedings brought against it. We also regularly represent the Tribunal as solicitor-advocates before the High Court, both in substantive proceedings, and in seeking orders for substituted service in disciplinary proceedings. We regularly draft relevant court papers and submissions, and have advised the Tribunal on successfully navigating both statutory and non-statutory information-access requests.
- Advising the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (“IAASA”), in respect of its statutory remit to monitor and supervise prescribed accountancy bodies in relation to their regulation of accountants. We have also advised IAASA in relation to the accreditation and regulation of liquidators, and we were involved in an extensive project assisting IAASA in preparing for its extended remit, including drafting both the accreditation application form and accompanying guidance notes for liquidators, and the statutory instrument setting the requirements for liquidators’ professional indemnity cover. For this purpose, we conducted a significant research project to determine the requirements regarding professional indemnity insurance in other jurisdictions.