JOE O’MALLEY
‘Our litigation and dispute resolution work has remained very resilient’ Managing Partner Hayes Solicitors
ACTIVITY Despite a vast slow down in activity in some courts, our litigation and dispute resolution work has remained very resilient, as we have adapted to enhanced case management, greater use of alternative dispute resolution techniques and remote hearings. Our transactional work has remained steady notwithstanding a general decline in high-value transactions. We’ve seen an upsurge in demand within our employment and restructuring teams, and we anticipate more activity in the insolvency area later in the year.
Our property team has had a surge of requests for legal advice surrounding lease and force majeure issues, while our employment team has engaged with lots of remote working and restructuring issues. Our corporate, banking and commercial teams have also been advising on the business impacts of Covid on various transactions and agreements.
REMOTE WORKING The way in which we now interact with clients and colleagues during delivery has changed profoundly. And while this presents greater convenience in some instances it also poses significant challenges, particularly in relation to the need to ensure the same level of collegiate interaction that is often required for the delivery of expert legal services.
By and large, our staff and management have coped well – we’re still learning how effective remote working is best achieved. We fully appreciate that supports from management in terms of infrastructure, regular team meetings and interaction (casual and business-related), as well as promotion of wellness initiatives across the firm, are vital tools in this process.
OUTLOOK Particularly resilient sectors during the pandemic include healthcare, food and beverages, restructuring, employment, media and entertainment, medium-sized transactional activity and dispute resolution. In the distressed sectors, we anticipate a growing demand in the areas of restructuring, insolvency and acquisitions. More transactional activity across all sectors is expected. We also see a growing demand for advice in the area of financial services regulation.