Business Law

Written by leading experts in the field, the sixth edition of Business Law is designed to provide trainee solicitors with a clear understanding of key aspects of business law, one of the most challenging and dynamic areas of law in study and in practice. Each chapter gives a clear overview of the subject as well as focusing on the legal issues that solicitors face in practice. Coverage includes: establishing and operating a business, buying and selling a business, selected business law issues, and business arrangements.

The manual is essential reading for trainee solicitors on the Law Society of Ireland's Professional Practice Courses, and is also an excellent resource for Irish legal practitioners.

About the Author:
Joanne Cox, Solicitor, lecturer and course manager on the Law Society of Ireland's PPC I and PPC II Business Law courses

Neil Campbell is a senior associate in Mason Hayes & Curran, solicitors. Neil studied law at Trinity College Dublin. Neil works in the Financial Services Department where he advises on all aspects of banking and financial services law and advises institutional and private clients, both international and domestic, on a range of practice areas including secured lending, commercial real estate lending, debt finance structures, corporate restructuring and loan portfolio acquisitions and disposals in the context of bank deleveraging programmes.

Dominic Conlon is a partner in Leman Solicitors, where he leads their corporate and commercial department.. He qualified as a solicitor in 1995. Dominic's practice is primarily focused on Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Restructurings, Outsourcings and Commercial Contracts. He has a leading practitioner in the Payments industry, advising many international and domestic financial institutions, payments service providers, and related technology companies. Dominic has lectured and published on Mergers & Acquisitions, Shareholder arrangements, Venture Capital, Corporate Governance, Outsourcing, and Commercial Contracts, including at the Law Society.

Rob Corbet is a partner in Arthur Cox, where he heads the Technology & Innovation Group. He qualified as a solicitor in 1999. Rob's practice is primarily focused on technological innovation, where he has extensive Intellectual Property and IT Law experience. He has a leading practice in data protection, advising many of Ireland's largest organisations in this area. He is also a leading adviser in the area of betting and gaming and in broader aspects of online innovation. Rob has been widely published on IT, IP and related matters both domestically and internationally. He has lectured and published internationally on technology law, data protection, open source, betting and gaming regulation and intellectual property, including at the Law Society.

Joanne Cox qualified as a solicitor in England in 1999. Joanne holds an LLB from Warwick University and a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education from Nottingham Trent University. She practised in Commercial Litigation before becoming a Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Law School. Since August 2007, Joanne has been the Course Manager responsible for the Law Society's PPC I and PPC II Business Law Courses. Joanne was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in Ireland in 2009.

Fergus Doorly is a partner in William Fry, Solicitors. He practises in all aspects of insolvency, corporate recovery and commercial litigation. He has extensive experience in advising liquidators, receivers, examiners and others in all aspects of insolvency law. Fergus has lectured and tutored on the business law course at the Law Society.

James Heary is Associate Director in the Company Compliance and Governance Group of Arthur Cox. An affiliate of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, he has also completed the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School Diploma in Corporate Governance. James advises Irish companies in both the private and public sector across a range of company secretarial and corporate governance matters including but not limited to incorporations, share movements, appointments and resignations of board members, voluntary strike offs, annual and extraordinary general meetings and attendance and minute taking at board meetings.

Kevin Hoy is a partner in Mason Hayes & Curran, Solicitors, where he leads the Real Estate Department, having previously been Head of Financial Services. His work includes development financing and project financing, as well as advising public sector clients and numerous charities. Kevin is a member of the Conveyancing Committee of the Law Society and previously he was the Examiner in Contract Law for the FE 1 examination.

Paul Keane is the managing partner of Reddy Charlton solicitors, practising in the area of corporate law, contract law and insolvency. He is the chairman of the Business Law Committee of the Law Society, a member of the Council of the Law Society, and a member of the CCBE Private Law Committee. He co-wrote the Irish contribution on International Taxation and E-commerce published by Kluwer.

Neil Keenan is the managing partner of LKG Solicitors, Glasthule, Co. Dublin and specialises in company and commercial law and business turnaround. Neil has worked on many large and high profile corporate transactions and has written and lectured extensively on company and commercial law related topics. He is a member of the Business Law Committee of the Law Society of Ireland and lectures on the Law Society's Diploma in Corporate Law and Governance.

Jeanne Kelly is a partner in Mason Hayes & Curran, Solicitors. Jeanne studied law at University College Dublin and at the Universite de Haute Normandie, Rouen, France. She advises both public and private clients in relation to data protection, contract, communications, information technology and intellectual property issues. In addition to this edition of Business Law, Jeanne has also co-authored books on technology law and data protection law. Jeanne is a guest lecturer in commercial drafting and information technology at the Law Society. She also teaches at UCD Smurfit Business School, on its MBA Course on IP and IT law issues, and is a member of UCD Smurfit Business School Advisory Board on Innovation.

Stephen Keogh is a partner in William Fry, Solicitors, and the Head of its London Office. He practises in the Corporate Department where he specialises in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments and also advises on a range of other commercial and company law matters. Stephen has lectured at the Law Society and has served as both an internal and external examiner on the Business Law module.

Elaine McGrath is a partner and European Trade Mark Attorney with Reddy Charlton, Solicitors, since 2006. She holds a Degree in Law & European Studies from University of Limerick and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business & IT from Dublin Business School. Elaine practises corporate and commercial law with a particular interest in commercial contracting and intellectual property. She has lectured on a variety of topics including consumer law, data protection and bankruptcy.

Michelle McLoughlin qualified as a solicitor in 1999 and has her own commercial law firm M. McLoughlin & Co., Solicitors. She practises commercial, employment, intellectual property and taxation law. She has particular expertise in taxation law. She is a lecturer and tutor with the Law Society in the areas of business law, employment law and taxation for PPC I and PPC II and masterclasses. Michelle is a co-author of Capital Taxation for Solicitors published by Oxford University Press in conjunction with the Irish Law Society's Law School.

Philip Nolan is a partner and Head of the Commercial Department at Mason Hayes & Curran. He also leads Mason Hayes & Curran's Technology, Media and Communications team and the Privacy and Data Security team. Philip specializes in privacy and data security and has advised in the most high profile data security breaches in Ireland in recent years. Philip speaks regularly on data protection and cyber security issues. He holds a BCL from University College Dublin and the University of Oxford.

Sean Nolan is a partner in Kerman & Co solicitors, Dublin where he practises commercial law, M&A, inward investment, joint ventures, shareholders' agreements and IP. Formerly he was a partner at one of Dublin's other leading international firms. He is qualified as a solicitor in both England and Ireland, having attended University College London (LL.B) and London Metropolitan University (LL.M). He is co-author of 'Buying and Selling a Business-Tax and Legal Issues' published by the Irish Institute of Taxation and 'M&A - Protecting the Purchaser' published by Kluwer Law International. He is a member of the Business Law Committee of the Law Society of Ireland and has published various articles on business law subjects in professional journals. He has also lectured at the Law Society in company law.

Robert O'Beirn is a Senior Legal Counsel at UDG Healthcare plc. Robert advises several businesses across the group in connection with a broad range of matters including their day to day commercial contracting requirements and is also involved in the management of the group's acquisition and disposal activities. He previously practised in the Corporate Department of Arthur Cox, Solicitors.

Daibhi O'Leary is an associate in the Company Compliance and Governance Group in Arthur Cox, having previously trained as a chartered accountant with KPMG. Daibhi has contributed the chapter on Financial Statements, Accounts and Annual Return to Courtney, The Law of Companies (3rd edition, 2012), contributed a chapter to Bloomsbury Professional's Guide to the Companies Act 2014 (2015), and contributed to MacCann and Courtney, Companies Acts 1963-2012. Daibhi has addressed the Annual Conference of Chartered Accountants Ireland in relation to the Companies Act, and has had articles on the Act published in its online journals. He also lectures on the Act on the Law Society of Ireland Professional and Diploma courses. Daibhi's practice in Arthur Cox primarily involves advising on company law and other legislation, particularly in relation to financial statements and corporate governance matters.

David O'Mahony is a Solicitor in the Corporate Department of Dillon Eustace. He advises on a wide range of matters for both public and private companies including mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracts and corporate governance. David has tutored in the area of business law in the Law Society.

Aillil O'Reilly has 15 years' experience as a barrister, focused largely on commercial litigation. During the past 6 years, his work has been dominated by the consequences of failed investment, acting mainly for financial institutions and insurance companies. Since 2010 he has acted in relation to numerous and sizeable debt litigation and asset tracing for a total value of in excess of 2billion, including the complicated and protracted litigation with the family of former customers of Anglo Irish Bank (IBRC v Quinn). He was an external editor on Lyndon MacCann SC and Tom Courtney's annotated Companies Acts from its publication in 2007 until 2014. He is the only external contributor to the forthcoming 3rd edition of the textbook 'Civil Proceedings and the State', Thomson Roundhall, Anthony Collins S.C. and James O'Reilly S.C. He has lectured and tutored at the Law Society and the Kings Inns.

Carol Plunkett is a partner in William Fry, Solicitors. She practises in intellectual property law, is known in particular for advising on contentious matters, and has acted in many of the patent, copyright, trade mark and passing-off cases which have come before the courts in recent years. Carol lectures in the area of business law at the Law Society and has written extensively on the law of intellectual property.

Piaras Power is a partner in Eversheds, Solicitors, where he works in the Banking and Financial Services Department. Piaras advises both Irish and international financial institutions and agencies on a wide range of areas including acquisition finance, real estate and development finance and general secured and unsecured lending transactions. He has extensive experience in advising clients on debt restructuring, workouts and recovery related issues in addition to banking issues relating to insolvency, loan and security documentation. Piaras has lectured on a variety of banking topics both on the Law Society's Professional Practice Courses and its Diploma Programme as well as to members of the Dublin Solicitor's Bar Association.

Dr Vincent Power is a partner in A&L Goodbody and heads the firm's acclaimed EU, Competition & Procurement Unit (shortlisted as among the top five in Europe in the 2015 Global Competition Review Awards). He is a graduate of UCC (College Scholar) (BCL) and University of Cambridge (Evan Lewis Thomas Law Student at Sidney Sussex) (LL.M. and Ph.D.). He has written or edited seven books including Competition Law and Practice, Irish Competition Law and EU Shipping Law (winner of the Comite Maritime International Law's Albert Lilar Prize for the best shipping law book in the world in the previous five years). He won the Inaugural Commercial Lawyer of the Year at the Irish Law Awards. He is Adjunct Professor of Law at University College Cork and European Union Centre for Excellence Visiting Professor of Law at Dalhousie University in Canada. He is on the editorial board of, and a contributor to, a number of law journals internationally.

Paul Robinson is a partner in Arthur Cox's Corporate and M&A Group and has extensive experience advising on a wide range of corporate and commercial transactions. He has a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, emerging and growth companies, private equity, corporate reorganisations and general commercial agreements. Paul has lectured and tutored in the area of business law at the Law Society and has been the external examiner for the Law Society in the area of corporate transactions.

Lindsay Stevens is a solicitor and manager in the Financial Solutions legal team in AIB, dealing with all aspects of restructuring and refinancing distressed debt. Lindsay has worked for three of the "Big Five" firms in Ireland, and is also qualified in the UK, where she practised for a time. Lindsay has lectured to the DSBA and regularly lectures and tutors on the Business Law module of the Professional Practice Course 1 and the Banking Law and Conveyancing Law modules of the Professional Practice Course 2 at the Law Society of Ireland. Her most recent published works in addition to this book include an article on personal guarantees published in Business Ireland.

Lorcan Tiernan is a partner in Dillon Eustace. His main areas of practice are mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, corporate insolvency and financial services. He has written a number of articles in international publications and in legal textbooks and has lectured to the Institute of Bankers in Ireland, the National College of Ireland as well as to the Law Society of Ireland. Lorcan is a graduate of University College Dublin and the University of London.

Oisin Tobin is a Senior Associate in Mason Hayes & Curran, where he specialises in technology and data privacy law. Oisin advises and represents international technology companies in complex cross-border matters and counsels high potential start-ups. Oisin holds an LL.B., with first class honours, from Trinity College Dublin and a BCL, with distinction, from the University of Oxford. Oisin frequently lectures on technology and data protection law at the Law Society of Ireland.

Dr Michael Twomey is the author of Twomey, Partnership Law, (Bloomsbury Professional, 2000). He specialises in partnership law, advising law firms on their own behalf, and on behalf of their clients, in relation to all aspects of partnerships. He lectures at the Law Society of Ireland and has previously lectured in partnership law at Trinity College Dublin and been a member of the Business Law Committee of the Law Society of Ireland.