Articles From the Team

Lawyers - have you considered the Dublin legal market?

Dublin is home to a number of the world’s biggest banks and asset managers and is prided on being a very sophisticated and evolved market.

It was ranked the second most attractive European financial centre after London, according to PwC, which will no doubt help the city attract post-Brexit investment, by positioning itself as an alternative hub to London.

With many international law firms setting up in Ireland following the 2016 Brexit referendum, Dublin’s legal market has taken off in the past five years. International firms such as DLA Piper, Pinsent Masons, and Dechert were quick to expand their operations, with Dentons opening its Dublin office at the start of last year. In addition, both Linklaters and Taylor Wessing are planning to open Dublin offices in the near future.

Michael Finn, a partner at Pinsent Masons, explained how, having originally started out as a three-person team in 2017, Pinsent Masons’ office in Dublin is now 55 people strong, with other law firms seeing a “similar trajectory”.  Finn explained:

Law firms are expanding into Ireland more and more as their clients move here. 

Deirdre Sheehan, Real Estate Partner at Arthur Cox explained to Legal Cheek that this has resulted in a “noticeable uptick in interest for office space”. Within her practice area Sheehan is also seeing more investment from Asia, with Ireland offering a “steadier ship” for foreign investors than London in the present climate.

International firms in the market say Ireland in itself has been an important market given its strong-performing economy and employment market, while Brexit has provided a catalyst to speed up the process of more overseas arrivals.

Colin Leaver, partner and head of asset management and investment funds at Simmons and Simmons states:

Ireland is an important market for establishing funds that will be marketed generally throughout the European Union and for structuring financial products. The Dublin office will help cement our position in these two sectors and it’s very important for us to be there.

Like the UK, Ireland is a common law jurisdiction with an English-language legal system and like in many of the prominent jurisdictions there continues to be a strong demand for lawyers across a number of practice areas which include:

• Corporate/M&A

• Funds

• Banking and Finance

• Competition

• Capital Markets

In terms of salaries; the average pay for a Lawyer is €111,139 a year and the average salary range is between €76,566 and €138,656. There are two tax brackets, 20% (the standard rate, charged on the first 35k depending on personal circumstances) and the balance of income at 40% (the higher rate of all taxable income over 35k depending on personal circumstances, earnings, exemptions etc.).

When it comes to the quality of living, Dublin ranks higher than most cities. Dublin is better than London in many ways. This is according to an international survey. The Mercer’s Quality of Life survey ranked Dublin in 34th place. This makes the city the highest-ranking city in Ireland and the UK.

If you are a UK based Lawyer who would be interested in discussing the Dublin market at any level; please do get in touch.