BARRY DEVEREUX
‘There are major opportunities for development of new tech solutions’ GEOFF MOORE Managing Partner Arthur Cox
ACTIVITY Our clients have sought our advice and assistance on a wide range of Covid-related topics over the past year, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the first lockdown. Issues on which our advice was sought included refinancing and restructuring, Covid-related employment advice, holding AGMs virtually, cybersecurity and compliance with public health measures.
REMOTE WORKING I think that most people in the firm are coping well. One year in, there is no doubt that people are finding aspects of working from home for this length of time challenging. We all miss the collegiality and social aspects of being in the office with colleagues, as well as the collaboration and innovation that cannot happen as easily in a remote environment.
I have been very focused on internal communication and keeping everyone as up to date as possible on developments at the firm and our response to the pandemic. Team leaders across the firm have been having more frequent team meetings than before Covid. We are also encouraging everyone to keep in touch on more informal bases. We held a number of social events on Zoom for a while
Managing Partner McCann FitzGerald
ACTIVITY Across the firm, business continues to trade well and the noticeable pick-up in business levels that began last September has been sustained. Of note, we have seen significant increases in M&A and private equity work; funds and investment management (on foot of the new investment limited partnership legislation) and a continuing stream of highprofile, high-value, international litigation claims.
Activity in the aviation sector remains robust, and we are delighted to have acted for AerCap on its recent €30bn acquisition of GE Capital Aviation Services.
OUTLOOK Thinking beyond Covid-19, there are a number of areas that are likely to drive
‘We all miss the collegiality and social aspects of being in the office’
after the pandemic hit. Zoom fatigue is a real issue now though, and people’s appetite for social Zoom calls is waning.
I don’t believe that remote working has affected service delivery. Our teams continue to provide excellent advice and service to our clients. One thing that is more challenging when working remotely is providing ongoing economic growth in the coming years and for which we are preparing our response. At a policy level, the EU Green Deal will drive transformational change, which is relevant to all departments in the firm. Equally important are the EU digital single market strategy, the National Data Strategy in the UK and the US NAIIO initiative.
The pandemic has significantly accelerated the adoption of AI and other tech solutions, and there are major opportunities for development of new tech solutions. Financial markets will evolve and be transformed by digital ‘currencies’, with a corresponding impact on financial regulation and investment strategies.
The pandemic spurred a tremendous wave of innovation and collaboration in healthcare, life sciences and pharma. Health policy and new models of service delivery often enabled by digitalisation potentially herald a new era for the provision of healthcare in Ireland. This will lead to interesting opportunities and threats, many of them with legal and regulatory impacts that will need to be considered. The funding of the sector and the role of health insurance will be under the spotlight. on-the-job training to our trainee solicitors and more junior members of staff. We have developed buddy systems and other innovative ways to maintain our traditionally high levels of training while working remotely.
LITIGATION Thankfully, many courts have gone online and are conducting fully remote or hybrid hearings. Hearings involving witnesses are more challenging but are also happening. We were involved in the first ever fully remote witness hearing in the Commercial Division of the High Court in January this year.
OUTLOOK Other than the locked-down sectors, most other sectors are holding up well, including, for example, financial services, energy and manufacturing.