Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution | Irish Law

Expertise

Matheson’s Disputes and Investigations Group is market leading, representing both domestic and international clients. The disputes we handle are often cross border in nature and precedent setting, requiring a collaborative and innovative approach, particularly where they are high-stakes, time-sensitive and carry significant reputational risk for our clients. We believe our market leading expertise and the strength and depth of our team has contributed to Matheson being recognised as the ‘go to’ firm in Ireland for complex cross-border disputes. We have experience achieving successful outcomes for clients from all sectors including many regulated sectors.

Every deal or transaction carries with it the risk of a dispute and reputational management. Successful businesses require lawyers that can pre-empt the issues that may surface, take steps to minimise them and then react quickly and effectively when a dispute arises. We routinely assist our clients with pre-emptive advice on potentially contentious aspects of major corporate and financial transactions. We play a critical role in the strategy of the dispute from the outset and minimise the cost and time involved in instructing external counsel. We give our clients business ready advice that enables them to approach a dispute, confident that we will guide them to the most commercial resolution.

Understanding your business and your objectives are key to our approach. Our size means we have the flexibility and depth of resource to handle large and complex litigation. We never forget that every client may have different needs and expectations. When necessary, we design and implement a bespoke service to meet our client’s requirements.

Our full service offering extends beyond traditional legal advice. Our Digital Services Group offers cost effective technological solutions and project management support for document intensive cases. Our resources facilitate the fast-tracking of the most complex commercial and cross-border disputes through Ireland’s Commercial Court.

The partners in our Department are also leaders in the development of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and a number of our partners are accredited mediators.

Our close working relationships with leading overseas law firms, experts in forensic investigations and other relevant disciplines, ensure that clients benefit from a seamless service.

Our Team

Our dedicated team of over 100 professionals is led by 21 partners.

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Experience Highlights

Representing four of the world’s leading aircraft leasing companies in Commercial Court proceedings against some 42 insurers/syndicates (worth approximately $2bn) in relation to aircraft detained in Russia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions.
Matheson was the first firm in the Irish market to have obtained innovative “injunctions against persons unknown” in highly confidential hacking/data breach and cyber-attack cases, including where clients faced ransom demands in bitcoin.
Advising Rippling in its highly publicised investigation and commercial court case involving a claim for corporate espionage and trade secrets, involving Rippling’s competitor Deel, Inc., including successfully obtaining Anton Pillar orders and Norwich Pharmacal Orders.
Advising a leading health and safety company in successfully obtaining anticipatory injunctive relief, including a ban on soliciting business, employees and contractors, and in its claim for damages for theft of confidential and commercially sensitive company data.
a case for daa plc in respect of the Irish Aviation Authority's declarations of Coordination Parameters at Dublin Airport regarding the interaction between planning and aviation law, and a question as to the interpretation of the EU Slot Regulation; and (v) a case for a renewable energy developer concerning whether valid site specific conservation objectives are a pre-requisite to carry out a valid appropriate assessment in relation to planning permission for amendments to a wind farm planning permission.
Advising EirGrid plc in two separate sets of urgent High Court judicial review proceedings brought against it and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (the “CRU”), by a number of unsuccessful applicants who did not qualify in the 2028/2029 T-4 electricity capacity market auction (the auction being the process of selling energy to the national grid). This litigation marked the first occasion on which the qualification process under the Code has been the subject of detailed judicial consideration.
Representing Perrigo plc in its successful coverage proceedings challenging a declinature and aggregation in respect of a multi-million dollar claim under its Directors’ & Officers’ Liability and Company Reimbursement Insurance policies for US securities class actions (the only judgment of the Irish courts to date on aggregation of claims in insurance).
Representing Utmost in its successful appeal of two separate findings of the FSPO on coverage matters to the High Court (the only insurer to have successfully challenged more than one decision of the FSPO).
Advising a number of insurance companies in relation to Covid 19 - related business interruption claims, internal investigations and related regulatory and reporting obligations. Matheson was the only Irish law firm to represent insurers in more than one test case. Our success in Brushfield v AXA is now one of the leading Irish cases on insurance policy interpretation in Ireland.
Representing a number of leading players in the motor industry, including representing the Stellantis Group (Opel) in multi-party Commercial Court proceedings arising from a significant fire resulting in the closure and refurbishment of Douglas Shopping Centre, Cork; representing the Iveco Trucks Group in the defence of Irish "follow-on" litigation arising from the European Commission's finding in the "Trucks Cartel" case, where fines of over €2 billion were imposed; advising Volkswagen in its product liability and financing disputes.
Advising a range of household name international companies within the TMT sector including in relation to contractual disputes and terminations, requests for take-downs of online material on the basis of alleged defamation, breach of privacy and other alleged breaches, including dealing with to dealing with “Norwich Pharmacal” orders and take-down requests.
With our leading tax practice (recent awards include Ireland Tax Firm of the Year - ITR EMEA Tax Awards 2024, Ireland Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year- ITR EMEA Tax Awards 2023), we have secured major tax dispute instructions in Tax Appeals and Irish State Aid cases.
Advising a major insurance broker in connection with a dawn raid by the European Commission in connection with alleged anti-competitive practices.
Advising multinational technology companies in relation to contractual and licensing disputes with business partners throughout the EMEA region.
Advising an Irish plc in relation to a number of civil claims arising from a highly publicised investigation by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement followed by the appointment of High Court Inspectors to investigate the company.
Representing a major domestic bank in insurance coverage proceedings challenging the declinature of a multi-million dollar claim under its fidelity insurance policy relating to losses arising from the fraudulent trading of an employee in a US subsidiary.
Advising an international private equity company against an Irish plc oil company in a cross-border enforcement of a multi-million international arbitration award arising from a shareholder dispute in relation to a gas field in Poland
Advising an Irish plc in the successful Supreme Court appeal of a €10 million libel award.
Advising a large Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas in a successful jurisdictional challenge to the enforcement of a non-EU judgment in Ireland, as part of a broader enforcement strategy (so far France, Luxembourg, Ireland, New York and the Netherlands) on the part of the applicant.

Accolades

“Matheson deliver high quality work and are extremely responsive. The analysis they perform is robust, with great attention to detail.”

Dispute Resolution: The European Legal 500 2025

“From the outset there was a strong engagement and definitive line of advice. A full engagement on how to best approach and de-escalate matters. The nature of the work carried out was both critical and urgent to our business. The team worked with us though extremely tight deadlines and were forthcoming with excellent advice across a broad spectrum of expertise.”

Dispute Resolution: The European Legal 500 2025

“Matheson’s disputes resolution team understand that disputes can be costly and disruptive, so they strive to resolve them efficiently and effectively, whether through negotiation, mediation, arbitration, or litigation. Their team has a proven track record of success in handling a wide range of complex disputes, including commercial litigation, construction disputes, intellectual property disputes, and regulatory investigations.”

Dispute Resolution: The European Legal 500 2025

"The team is extremely able to digest huge amounts of data and quickly get to the key points and issues."