Chambers Review
Provided by Chambers
Private Wealth Law - Ireland
What the Team is Known For
O'Connell Brennan is a boutique private client and tax firm that continues to earn high praise from interviewees for its work in complex estates and inheritance tax planning. The firm has significant strength in depth with a large team of well-regarded private client lawyers regularly working on international private wealth matters.
Strengths
"O'Connell Brennan has excellent expertise and an excellent team. You can always reply on OCB to respond in a timely fashion, which is very important in a private client business. The team are excellent at adding value to clients based on real-world experiences."
"For me they've always been very good. They've been clear in their advice and they present it well. They are responsive and they are helpful."
"They are very knowledgeable and clear that they are experts in their field. All the team are equally as skilled as each other and seem very current in relation to their knowledge."
Notable practitioners
Cormac Brennan advises on domestic and international private client matters, including tax and succession planning with cross-border elements. Brennan is well known for international asset structuring work and also handles charity law matters.
"Cormac Brennan is excellent all round. Cormac is so thorough in his advice and responsiveness."
"Cormac is extremely smart and professional, but he also has a nice bedside manner and connects well with clients."
"Cormac Brennan is one of Ireland's leading private client practitioners."
Susan O'Connell handles a variety of private client matters, including cross-border mandates for personal estate and tax planning. O'Connell also acts for non-profits and donors on structuring charitable giving.
"Susan O'Connell is a top succession and trust law lawyer in Ireland. She is excellent with clients, very practical, and has extraordinary attention to detail."
"She has a huge degree of empathy for clients, which is very important for private client work. Susan is particularly good at communicating difficult issues and is creative in her thought process."
"Susan has an immense knowledge of probate. Susan is extremely professional and very commercially aware. She understands and gets the best for her client."
Lydia McCormack advises on complex domestic and multi-jurisdictional tax and estate planning. McCormack also handles charity law matters and philanthropic giving.
"It is clear that Lydia is extremely proficient. Lydia was very patient with the clients in explaining and going through everything in detail, and at no time did the clients feel that anything was rushed."
"Lydia is a pleasure to work with, very professional and provides excellent client service."
"She is extremely professional and knowledgeable."
Tina Quealy advises on personal capital tax and income tax matters including revenue disputes. She is rated highly for her experience in the area along with her pleasant manner.
"Tina Quealy is excellent with clients, and clients really take to her. Her commercial awareness is a rare skill."
"She deals very well with clients. She is recommended because of her good way with clients. She's also very strong on the tax and legal side."
"Tina Quealy is excellent and I always know my clients are in safe hands with her."
Tracey O'Donnell joined O'Connell Brennan in 2022 from another Dublin-based firm. Her broad private client practice involves advising clients on tax, trust and estate planning matters.
"We were always in safe hands working with Tracey, even though the issues could be complex."
"Tracey's a very experienced and knowledgeable private client practitioner."
"Tracey O'Donnell provides solid advice."
Carol Hogan assists wealthy clients with personal capital and income tax matters. She is experienced in domestic and international trust and estate matters with a focus on Irish tax advice for international private wealth structures.
"Carol Hogan is excellent, both technically and in her manner with clients."
"Carol's very technical and a very good client service person. She's responsive and also very intuitive with dealing with different aspects. I felt she was very strong overall for all the characteristics you'd look for. She made things very understandable for people not used to legal jargon."
"Carol Hogan is technically excellent."
Edel Hargaden is a consultant at the firm who advises on a range of private client matters, including tax and planning, wills and succession and estate administration.
"Edel Hargaden is a highly skilled person in her field. She brings a great mix of tax and legal advice in all matters relating to inheritance, wills and trusts."