JOHN LYNCH

Managing Partner Whitney Moore

ACTIVITY The resilience shown by our team and our clients has been tremendous. People have repeatedly shown an ability to adapt and overcome hurdles, which is inspiring. Our experience is that deals are taking longer to complete but they are still getting done. Our M&A and property teams remain busy, with some significant new instructions coming in. Private client work has continued to defy predictions and shows no slowdown in activity. The employment team has expanded over the past year and is busy working with Irish and international clients on the wide variety of Covid-19 related HR issues, helping clients continue in their businesses, operating remotely.

REMOTE WORKING The shift to remote working was the ultimate test of our business continuation plan and it was great to see it work effectively in practice.

‘Private client work has continued to defy predictions’

People have shown flexibility and agility in how they work, and good communication between team members and across different teams has, as always, been important.

LITIGATION Commercial litigation has been adversely affected by Covid restrictions, more so than any other part of our practice. On the other hand, we have seen a lot more activity in the alternative dispute resolution area. There have been more mediations and people have learned how to successfully conduct virtual mediations, using the technology that we have all become so used to.

OUTLOOK The technology sector has been able to thrive and in the main has been wellsuited to remote working. Businesses have overcome the hurdles posed, teams are interacting well and sharing ideas in a way that many thought impossible without faceto-face meetings. The pharma sector is also busy and not impacted. The financial services sector is also showing resilience, with many clients showing high activity levels.