Eleanor Cunningham

Practice Areas

Pensions and Incentives

Career

A graduate of University College Dublin and Oxford University, Eleanor became a partner in 2018 and is Head of the Pensions & Incentives Group. She is responsible for advising financial institutions, semi-state bodies, companies, trustees, committees and employees on various pension plans, employee share plans and other incentive plans.

Eleanor's practice includes advising on a range of pension issues including scheme restructuring, liability management exercises, benefit design, trustee governance, scheme amendments, dealing with funding deficits and funding proposals, mergers, scheme wind-ups and the impact of pensions and other relevant legislation regarding pensions schemes and their operation.

She also regularly advises on the establishment, amendment, governance and administration of defined contribution schemes and the pensions and incentives aspects of various commercial transactions. Eleanor advises on both Revenue approved tax efficient employee shares schemes and on unapproved employee share schemes and other incentive plans working closely with our Tax Group.

Eleanor is Chairman of the Irish Association of Pension Fund’s DC Sub-Committee, an IAPF Council member, and out-going Chairman of the Association of Pension Lawyers in Ireland. Eleanor is also the Chairman of the Irish ProShare Association. She is a member of the UK Association of Pension Lawyers, the International Pension and Employee Benefits Association, and the Global Equity Organisation. Eleanor regularly contributes to industry periodicals on pensions and incentives law, and lectures on the Law Society’s Pensions Law Diploma.