Our Employment & Benefits lawyers advise on employment law and on the specialist areas of health and safety, pensions and employee incentives.  Our clients include many leading multinational and Irish companies, pension scheme trustees and public sector organisations.

We approach employment and pensions law issues with a view to securing commercially desirable outcomes for our clients and we deliver our advice promptly and with clarity. We draw on the expertise of our colleagues in other specialist departments of William Fry on related areas of the law, such as data protection, intellectual property rights and taxation, to provide a comprehensive service.

Our team has advised on the employment and pensions aspects of many of the major corporate transactions in Ireland over the past several years.  We have successfully represented clients in a number of High Court and Supreme Court cases in which the judgements handed down have clarified key points of Irish employment law.

Our areas of expertise include:

• Advising on all legal issues relating to the employment relationship
• Representing clients before courts and tribunals in discrimination claims, unfair dismissal cases, breach of contract actions, injunction proceedings and prosecutions
• Industrial relations
• Employment and pension issues in business sales, group reorganisations, insolvencies and outsourcings
• Advising on all aspects of pensions law for employers, trustees, pension product providers and individuals
• Employee share plans
• Bespoke employment law training sessions for HR personnel

Our experience includes:

Advising Yahoo! and State Street on an ongoing basis on employment law issues

Advising Ernst & Young Dublin, the joint administrators of the Irish subsidiary of the Canadian telecoms giant Nortel Networks Limited, on the employment and pensions law issues relating to the administration and sale of parts of the Nortel business

Advising Wolseley plc on the employment, pensions and share scheme aspects of the sale of its Irish businesses with 600 employees

Advising HMV on the employment aspects of its acquisition of five Zavvi music stores in Ireland from the provisional liquidator of Zavvi

Obtaining for the Ex-CEO and Ex-CFO of Payzone an interlocutory injunction which was effectively the first of its kind in the British Isles 

Acting for Dunnes Stores in a successful Supreme Court appeal overturning the judgment of the High Court granting damages for wrongful dismissal and in respect of personal injury

Advising Royal and Sun Alliance (RSA) on all pension aspects of the domestication of its Irish operation

Advising the trustees of the Aviva Staff Pension Fund in relation to the amalgamation of a number of group pension schemes

Advising Fujitsu on its Irish pension scheme arrangements and structures

Advising Norkom Technologies plc and Smurfit Kappa Group plc on obtaining shareholder approval in 2009 for amendments to their existing executive share plans

Advising FAS and B&Q on an ongoing basis on health and safety issues

Department
Sources say: “A well-connected practice that really tries to understand its clients. I have yet to give the lawyers a scenario which has stumped them – you can always find an expert in your area.”
Chambers Europe, 2013 - Employment

Sources say: 'Everyone we deal with is just superb. We value the team's judgement and view them as colleagues.'
Chambers Europe, 2012 - Employment

William Fry advises in ‘a clear and pragmatic way'.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2012 - Employment

William Fry is able to offer ‘flexible solutions and clear analysis of various situations’.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2011 - Employment

William Fry is ‘hard working and responsive’.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2010 - Employment

Large employers from the public and private sector form the majority of the client roster, and they call the team ‘pragmatic, responsive, client-focused, and ready to go at any time.’  According to sources, ‘William Fry lawyers take care of the legal side but, with a solid commercial approach, they almost act as business consultants as well’.
Chambers Europe, 2010 - Employment

Team

Boyce Shubotham
Boyce Shubotham is considered “one of the top employment guys in the city.”
Chambers Europe, 2013 - Employment

Practice head Boyce Shubotham is ‘tactically astute in all his dealings’.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2013 - Employment

Boyce Shubotham is lauded as 'experienced and practical. He always lays out options and his advice has avoided a lot of litigation.'
Chambers Europe, 2012 - Employment

Boyce Shubotham is ‘just amazing’.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2012 - Employment

Boyce Shubotham is hailed as a ‘top-class adviser'.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2011 - Employment

Boyce Shubotham is praised for ‘demonstrating mastery of the law’.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2010 - Employment

Boyce Shubotham leads the team and is recommended for his handling of complex employment litigation.
Chambers Europe, 2010 - Employment

Michael Wolfe
According to an impressed client, “he thinks outside the box and comes up with usable solutions." Another adds: "He has the ability to resolve division and conflict between parties.”
Chambers Europe, 2013 - Employment

Michael Wolfe is praised for 'his independence of mind and ability to resolve divisions between trustees'.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2013 - Pensions & Employee Benefits

Michael Wolfe is ‘an excellent pensions lawyer’.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2012 - Pensions & Employee Benefits

Michael Wolfe provides ‘excellent advice, not just on strict legal issues but also on the appropriate tactical approach’.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2010 - Pensions and Employee Benefits

‘He is extremely experienced and his advice is legally and tactically spot-on,’ according to clients.
Chambers Europe, 2010 - Employment

Maura Roe
Maura Roe ‘remains calm and focused’.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2013 - Employment

Maura Roe is ‘technical and knows where the client is coming from’.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2010 - Pensions and Employee Benefits

Maura Roe brings an international dimension, having worked for a prominent US law firm, and sources appreciate that she is ‘responsive and knows the legislation extremely well’.
Chambers Europe, 2010 - Employment

Alicia Compton

Alicia Compton is "a valuable adviser who understands the context in which we operate. She can head problems off.”
Chambers Europe, 2013 - Employment

Alicia Compton is ‘excellent’.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2013 - Employment

Alicia Compton 'is a great asset. She has a deep understanding of our needs and will anticipate all the issues that could affect us,' clients note.
Chambers Europe, 2012 - Employment

'Alicia Compton has few peers'.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2012 - Employment

Alicia Compton can lay claim to being ‘the best employment lawyer in Ireland’, according to one client.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2011 - Employment

Alicia Compton is ‘a pragmatic lawyer with a knack for distilling complex information down to the essential elements,’ say sources.
Chambers Europe, 2010 - Employment

Alicia Compton is an expert in equality-related matters, and has advised both public and private sector bodies on potential equality issues. She is also a member of the Health and Safety Lawyers' Association.
Chambers Global, 2009 - Employment

Maryrose Dillon
Maryrose Dillon is ‘a rising star in Irish employment law circles’.
Legal 500 EMEA, 2012 - Employment