By Business & Finance 
Emer Gilvarry has led Mason Hayes & Curran during a time of unprecendented growth for the law firm which last year saw increased turnover for the ninth consecutive year.
Emer Gilvarry is an experienced litigator and also acts as a personal advisor to senior business leaders in Ireland.
Gilvarry is managing partner at law firm Mason Hayes & Curran and continues to advise business clients on shareholder agreements and executive and consultancy contracts. Gilvarry’s area of expertise is in dispute resolution, with an emphasis on shareholder disputes and dissolution of partnerships.
She has led the firm to top tier status in Ireland during her five year tenure as managing partner. The firm now employs 300 staff including 66 partners and has enjoyed year on year revenue growth for the last nine years. It is one of the few law firms in Ireland to publish its turnover. Based on Barrow St. in the Docklands area of Dublin the firm specialises in sectors such as financial services, healthcare and technology. The firm is particularly well-known for its dispute resolution work with over half of the partners working in this area.
Gilvarry is recognised as a skilled negotiator and an expert in project managing complex conflicts involving multiple parties and is on the board of FÁS and UCD Smurfit School.
She is a leading dispute resolution and employment lawyer in key international legal publications including Chambers and Partners and Legal 500, and she regularly speaks at leading domestic and international legal conferences including the Managing Partners Forum, the American Bar Association, the International Bar Association, and the Law Society of Ireland. Gilvarry is a recommended lawyer in the international Who’s Who Legal directory.
Shortly after Gilvarry’s appointment as managing partner, she was successful in implementing a merger with leading law firm Arthur O’Hagan, specialists in the healthcare, education and charities sectors. The merger came into effect in October 2008 and followed a focused growth strategy at MHC focused on expanding the range of services and legal expertise to align with growth areas of the economy.
MHC recently acted for Liberty Mutual Group on the acquisition of the general insurance business of Quinn Insurances Limited, a deal which was completed late last year. The acquisition which was signed in April 2011 was subject to a number of regulatory and other conditions. Liberty Mutual Group is one of the largest property and casualty insurers in the world and employs over 45,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.
MHC also announced that it had increased its revenue by 8% in 2011 to €42.2 million, the ninth year in a row that it has achieved increased turnover. In 2010, its revenue rose by 8.9% to €39.2 million.
Commenting on the results in the Irish Times Gilvarry said: “Despite challenging market conditions, our performance in 2011 reflects the increase in foreign direct investment and the ongoing growth of key sectors such as technology, healthcare, insurance, food, and energy in Ireland.”
“As well as the constant flow of foreign direct investment activities, we see the commercialisation of Irish State assets as possible sources of future business as these will attract a flow of international purchasers to Ireland in the coming months and years,” she added.
Gilvarry is a member of the Irish Society for Labour Law. She completed her law degree at University College Dublin and in addition, is a qualified mediator and has lectured extensively on issues relating to the workplace. She also contributes to the Irish chapter of the International Expatriate Employment Handbook.
