Department profile

Employment

Europe Guide 2026 : Ireland

Rankings

Ranked Individuals

About

Provided by Arthur Cox

We have Ireland’s largest Employment Group and we provide an extensive range of legal services to clients on all aspects of employment and industrial relations law, whether it is a problem relating to an individual employee or a complex issue affecting your entire workforce.

Our Employment Group acts for a wide variety of clients including private companies, PLCs, State agencies and public sector companies, Government departments, multinationals, start-up enterprises, hospitals, schools, universities and other third-level institutions, and State and statutory bodies.

The group adopts a partnership approach and works very closely with chairs, chief executives, in-house counsel, HR directors and HR professionals to find practical, effective and creative solutions to both everyday and exceptional problems. We pride ourselves on having a very strong commercial approach to problem-solving. The Group is consistently top-ranked in the areas of Employment / Labour Law and Industrial Relations and is an established market leader in its field with considerable experience in advising on a vast range of complex employment issues for a wide variety of clients at both national and global levels.

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Employment - Ireland

Band 1

What the Team is Known For

Arthur Cox has a formidable employment department that handles the pensions and employment aspects of large transactional and internal restructuring projects. The law firm offers longstanding experience in high-end labour law matters concerning remuneration, social security disputes, employee transfers and senior executive terminations. It regularly assists companies with internal investigations and resultant disciplinary processes. The team handles disputes over protected disclosure and allegations of discrimination. On the pensions side, the law firm advises a combination of trustees and employers on the reorganisation and restructuring of pension schemes, on GDPR issues and on the resolution of internal disputes.

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Work Highlights

Provided by Chambers

Arthur Cox assisted Phoenix Tower International with the employment aspects of its approximately EUR971 million acquisition of Cellnex Ireland, including the subsequent collective redundancies.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

The team combines deep technical expertise with a practical understanding of clients' culture and operations, ensuring the advice is always timely, commercially focused and solution-oriented.
Employment respondentEurope
Arthur Cox demonstrates a combination of technical legal advice and pragmatic solutions.
Employment respondentEurope
The Arthur Cox team shows a real commitment to understanding client challenges and the employee relations landscape, consistently providing practical, efficient and timely advice.
Employment respondentEurope
Advice and support is always provided quickly and comprehensively by the team, leaving the client feeling completely protected and reassured.
Employment respondentEurope
The standard really just never drops across the Arthur Cox employment team.
Employment respondentEurope

Notable Practitioners

Provided by Chambers

Star Individuals
Star Individuals
Séamus Given
Séamus Given has a stellar track record of handling complex contentious cases, such as those pertaining to employment status or whistle-blowing. He is also adept at assisting with the employment elements of M&A transactions.
He is simply the best employment lawyer in the country.
Employment respondentEurope
Séamus is extraordinary. He is very hard-working, responsive and delivers complex work in very short times.
Employment respondentEurope
Séamus Given is just the best in the business. He has a really well-rounded pragmatism and strong commercial knowledge.
Employment respondentEurope
He is an excellent lawyer with a focus on detail as well as huge commercial awareness.
Employment respondentEurope
Séamus has an unparalleled knowledge of employment law.
Employment respondentEurope
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Band 1
Band 1
Kevin Langford
Kevin Langford centres his highly acclaimed practice on M&A-related employment issues and claims of unfair dismissal.
He is extremely knowledgeable and always willing to assist, bringing practical solutions to the table.
Employment respondentEurope
Kevin Langford is an outstanding solicitor who is very responsive, with great professional knowledge, practicality and commerciality.
Employment respondentEurope
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Band 1
Band 1
Philip Smith
Philip Smith impresses the market with his extensive experience in pensions law matters. He handles the establishment and closure of defined contribution and defined benefit plans, and also advises on pension fund restructuring, internal dispute resolution and data protection matters.
Philip is one of the foremost pensions legal advisers in Ireland.
Employment respondentEurope
Philip Smith is very calm, knowledgeable and reassuring to clients and is just a really decent person with whom it's always a pleasure to work.
Employment respondentEurope
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Band 2
Band 2
Cian Beecher
Cian Beecher regularly advises on the employment aspects of large-scale corporate transactions, offering additional experience in complex senior executive remuneration matters and employee transfers.
Cian is a pragmatic realist with a great sense of strategy.
Employment respondentEurope
Cian is a pleasure to work with. He is pragmatic, sensible and can apply legal principles to practical scenarios.
Employment respondentEurope
Cian Beecher provides clear, pragmatic support on complex and highly confidential employment law matters, always bringing deep expertise and sound judgement.
Employment respondentEurope
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Band 2
Band 2
Deirdre Cummins
Deirdre Cummins acts for trustees and employers on defined benefit pension schemes, plan funding, dispute resolution and regulatory compliance topics.
Deirdre Cummins is a very effective communicator.
Employment respondentEurope
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Band 2
Band 2
Louise O'Byrne
Louise O'Byrne is recognised as a prominent lawyer in the market. She has experience in remuneration and incentive schemes and the immigration aspects of corporate matters, in addition to advising on protected disclosure, transfers and executive terminations.
Louise O'Byrne is incredibly responsive, considered and assured in her advice.
Employment respondentEurope
Louise is a highly skilled operator whose strategic approach to complex employment issues demonstrates a rare combination of technical legal excellence and business acumen.
Employment respondentEurope
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Band 2
Band 2
Sarah McCague
Sarah McCague advises both corporates and the trustees of public and private sector pensions on regulatory and compliance topics, including those in relation to the IORP II Directive.Additionally, she assists with scheme mergers and transfers.
Sarah McCague is calm, practical and very reasoned in her advice.
Employment respondentEurope
Sarah is a very experienced and reliable legal adviser.
Employment respondentEurope
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Band 3
Band 3
Daniel Watters
Daniel Watters advises trustees on regulatory compliance, pensions disputes and the pensions aspects of reorganisations.
Daniel Watters is courteous, knowledgeable and very good at listening and picking up on the nuances of challenges that clients are facing.
Employment respondentEurope
Daniel provides fantastic service and great awareness.
Employment respondentEurope
What sets Daniel apart is his ability to communicate complex matters to a varied audience in a way that everyone understands.
Employment respondentEurope
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