Byrne Wallace and LK Shields, two of Ireland’s largest law firms, agree to merge

Two of Ireland’s largest law firms, Byrne Wallace LLP and LK Shields Solicitors LLP, have agreed to merge their firms to create Byrne Wallace Shields.
The deal is one of the largest involving two Irish law firms and will create a firm with more than 430 employees, including 220 solicitors, giving them the opportunity to work on “larger mandates” from clients.
Feargal Brennan, the current managing partner of Byrne Wallace, will become managing partner of the merged firm when the deal takes effect on January 1st, 2025. Richard Curran, managing partner of LK Shields will become senior partner in the merged firm.
“We see this merger as a strong vote of confidence in the Irish economy,” the two men said in a joint statement.
“Our firms share similar cultures and values and we both enjoy the support of loyal clients, both domestic and international. We believe that this merger will enable us to provide enhanced services to those clients in support of their growth ambitions, and to compete for new Irish and international business.”
The merger is designed to give the combined law firm “strength in depth” across key areas of corporate and commercial law, including banking and financial services, mergers and acquisitions, European Union and competition, tax, litigation, property, infrastructure construction and energy, regulatory, public sector, employment, technology, cyber and data privacy.
The managing partners said the deal would create “a larger, better resourced, more dynamic firm to service the needs of existing clients and to target larger mandates from existing and new clients”.
Byrne Wallace Shields will be based in the current offices of Byrne Wallace on Harcourt Street in Dublin. All of the partners in LK Shields Solicitors will become partners in Byrne Wallace Shields.
Byrne Wallace is the larger of the two firms, employing 311 people. The firm is a full-service law firm with dedicated teams across all significant aspects of Irish law, with particular expertise in several areas including infrastructure construction and energy, life sciences, healthcare, retail, intellectual property, data protection and tax.
LK Shields Solicitors has offices in Upper Mount Street in Dublin as well as in Galway and employs 123 people. It is a corporate and commercial law firm with clients across Irish and international businesses, financial institutions and public bodies.
It has acted and continues to act in some of the largest and most high-profile corporate transactions and legal cases in Ireland.