Irish law firm McCann FitzGerald has announced the appointment of six new partners—Laura Deignan (aviation finance), Stephen Fuller (corporate/M&A), Niall McDowell (corporate banking), John Neeson (corporate/M&A), David O’Dea (restructuring and insolvency) and Orlaith Sheehy (public procurement)—bringing the total number of partners at the all-equity partnership to 80.
Laura Deignan (pictured) has been involved in a variety of instructions, including multiple aircraft portfolio acquisitions and disposals and cross-border leasing transactions, and acts for many leading aircraft lessors, financiers and airlines on all aspects of aircraft financing and leasing. Stephen Fuller has a particular focus on M&A in the insurance sector, having been involved in a number of significant transactions in recent years. In addition, he has acted for a number of the firm’s domestic and international clients on M&A, joint venture and corporate restructuring transactions in the healthcare and renewable energy sectors. Niall McDowell has acted for lenders, including Bank of Ireland, AIB, Oaktree and Activate Capital, and also for major developers such as Marlet, Lioncor, GSA and Bartra on some of the highest profile development financings in Ireland over the last number of years.
John Neeson has a particular focus on M&A, private equity and venture capital transactions in the technology and renewable energy sectors. He works on all forms of private equity and venture capital financing, from the funding of start-ups to the equity and debt financing of buyouts and all stages in between.
David O’Dea specialises in corporate restructuring and insolvency matters and regularly acts for international and local corporates on complex schemes of arrangement, including, most recently, Nordic Aviation Capital DAC on its landmark Irish scheme of arrangement. Orlaith Sheehy is a public procurement specialist and has been involved in handling a number of legal challenges to procurement processes. She has a deep understanding of the complexities that can arise in public procurement processes, enabling her to guide public tenderers in avoiding these risks, as well as to assist tenderers in protecting their legal rights.
Barry Devereux, managing partner of McCann FitzGerald, said: 'We are delighted to announce the appointment of such high-quality partners. This past year has been one of extraordinary volatility for so many of our clients and these appointments will ensure that we can continue to provide a first-class service to them as they look forward to a brighter future.'
