MARK HOMAN

ACTIVITY BHSM has experienced a strong trading year with growth across all service areas of our practice. This growth has necessitated recruitment of solicitors across the board. We continue to service the legal needs of businesses generally, from M&A to real estate and also with more contentious issues like litigation.

PANDEMIC FALLOUT Employment law continues to be busy, with clients introducing new policies and in some instances undertaking redundancy processes as part of reorganisation and cost-cutting measures. There continues to be strong demand for litigation support, particularly in relation to landlord and tenant disputes. We have also seen an uptick in company law and shareholder disputes.

With the courts system returned to prepandemic operational capacity, we have seen an increase in litigation generally. We have identified judicial reviews arising from decisions made by planning authorities as a growing area, with BHSM advising several clients in this area.

OUTLOOK Inflation and the war in Ukraine are real threats to the economy, which could have an impact on businesses and by extension

Irish law firms. Currently any impact is not discernable, with confidence continuing in the areas of M&A and commercial real estate.

Arguably the outlook for the next 12 months is more challenging than the last, and much will depend on what is done to tackle inflation and what transpires in the wider geopolitical situation. These factors affect confidence, and confidence drives transactions.

‘There has been an extraordinary upturn in M&A work’

‘There continues to be strong demand for litigation support’