Northern Ireland

Our Northern Ireland lawyers advise domestic and international operators, financiers, airlines, leasing companies, airports, maintenance companies, pilots, passengers and their families, and high‑net‑worth individuals on the full range of aviation matters, including breach of contract, aircraft liens, aircraft sales and purchases, repossessions, aviation accidents, and prosecutions against pilots.

• Acted on both the Boeing 777 Malaysian Airlines MH17 and Malaysian Airlines MH370 air accidents.
• Acted on the Hawker Hunter T7 Shoreham Airshow air accident.
• Acted for an Irish aircraft leasing company in relation to a claim against a US fund for breaching the terms of an aircraft purchase and sale agreement relating to an Airbus A312.
• Acted for a prominent aircraft charter company in successfully bringing a complex breach of contract action in the High Court relating to the management of a new Bombardier Challenger 300.
• Defended light aircraft and helicopter pilots in respect of prosecutions brought against them in various Magistrates’ Courts by the Civil Aviation Authority for breaches of the Rules of the Air Regulations 2007 and the Air Navigation Order 2009.
• Assisted a large helicopter financier in respect of the lease of various high-value helicopters internationally.
• Acted for an aircraft owner in a claim against an aircraft maintenance provider.
• Acted on the sale and purchase of aircraft (fixed wing and rotary) in the general aviation market.
• Assisted a Middle Eastern airline in respect of the sale and leaseback of Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
• Assisted in defending an action in respect of a disputed Emivest SJ30 business jet purchase in the High Court.
• Acted for UAE royalty, and various maintenance companies, in respect of aircraft repossessions.

Advising on the full range of commercial agreements, we draft and negotiate agreements relating to agency and distribution, anti‑bribery compliance, collaboration, commission and introduction agreements, NDAs, consultancy, data protection, software development and exploitation, technology licensing and assignment, heads of terms, manufacturing and supply, option and reseller agreements, and terms of business and trade. We have particular expertise in intellectual property and data protection across telecoms, technology, life sciences, and fintech sectors.

• Negotiated software-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service-agreements (Saas & Paas) for fin-tech and reg-tech companies with a global reach (including Moneyhub and AuditComply).
• Advised an SME providing software as a service on the changes required to its suite of contracts to comply with GDPR.
• Revising grant terms for a leading UK medical charity.
• Designed contract and income payment structure for a £100 million smart ticketing system for a national transport network, including protecting IP, novations, user licences and assignments.
• Successfully defended the All-Island regulator from commercial challenge by a US power generator in a commercial contracts case worth £260 million (one of the highest-valued contract disputes ever in a Northern Ireland court).
• Drafted, negotiated and implemented a £10 million+ Wi-Fi service agreement for a national communication network.
• Acted for Decibel Insight on the SaaS licensing of its web optimisation software.
• Developed a suite of agreements to enable the provision of outreach online learning by a leading English independent school.
• Advised a leading Portuguese research body on its commercialisation strategy.
• Advised telecoms clients on contracts between mobile network operators (MNO), mobile virtual network aggregators (MVNA) and mobile virtual network operators (MVNO).
• Advised an online repository for video content from clinical trials on its terms and conditions of supply.
• Advised on commercial contracts for tokenisation and crypto expert company.
• Acted as procurement panel adviser on over 400 contracts worth in excess of £1 billion (including PQQ, ITT and BAFO for a new £200m Transport Hub and a pioneering hybrid-electric fleet of vehicles worth £90m).
• Acted as procurement contracts adviser to His Majesty’s Government in the UK (2024 and 2025) on contracts worth in excess of $1 billion.
• Designed purchase and licence terms for IT hardware and software including negotiations with BT, Microsoft, Ingenico, Parkeon and BT. Provided creative escrow solutions for source code access.
• Advised on distribution, consultancy, franchise, reseller and agency model agreements for F45 Gym’s European expansion, for Decision Time’s boardroom software, and Anaplan’s financial management software (through Bedford Consultancy Services).
• Provided GDPR training for SG Innovate in Singapore for deep-tech companies and co-presented with the Information Commissioner in the UK.
• Co-designed the commercial bidding code and underpinning regulatory legislation for the Single Electricity Market and its regulatory boards in Northern Ireland and Ireland.
• Designed data breach protocols for clients to use in the event of data-leaks / cyber breaches.
• Acted for a UK pension fund updating its data protection policy, breach policy and privacy notice.
• Advised as deputising General Counsel for Southern Cross Cables in New Zealand on capacity and supply agreements and have attended key board and shareholder meetings in Bermuda.
• Advised on data subject access requests, social media postings, freedom of information requests, environmental information requests, and privacy impact assessments.
• Advised on crowdfund platforms such as Crowdcube, Republic Europe and Odin and their terms and conditions of doing business.
• Advised on Sandbox, Saas, Paas, NDAs, AI agentic contract tools and user terms for an AI company in Dubai, and Wyndham hotels and Red Bull globally.
• Project-managed 2-year plan and a team of more than 80 employees in designing and implementing a counter-fraud and anti-bribery strategy.
• Drafted regulatory licences and conditions for regulated entities in the water, transport and energy sectors.
• Developing for the Medical Research Council a suite of research agreement model forms with accompanying guidance notes.
• Advised a leading academic upon the deposit of research materials with the British Library.
• Creating a software-as-a-service template licence agreement for a client offering a storage platform for sensitive personal data collected in clinical trials.

Our Northern Ireland commercial property lawyers handle commercial property acquisitions and disposals, asset management, commercial and residential development, and corporate occupiers. Our work also includes landlord and tenant matters, option and pre‑emption agreements, overage clawback arrangements, property finance, and regeneration projects. We have particular expertise advising clients in the retail sector.

• Advised on the acquisition of the DFS flagship store in Northern Ireland within two days of instructions being received.
• Led the property team in the sale of The Garden Centre Group to Terra Firma Capital Partners.
• Advised Homebase Limited in its stores acquisition within the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
• Advised an Irish company on its proposed acquisition of a large site in Kent for potential mixed-use development.
• Advised on the disposal and leaseback of the portfolio held by Clear Channel Limited.
• Acted as the sole English external property solicitor for the Steinhoff Group.
• Advised a UK company on the purchase of the superior leasehold interest for the whole of the building of which its premises form part.
• Assisted on the proposed sale of the advertising panel portfolio of one of the outdoor media market leaders.

Our Northern Ireland construction and projects lawyers advise on both non‑contentious and contentious matters covering building and engineering contracts (JCT, NEC, FIDIC, IChemE), development and cross‑border agreements, consultant appointments, insolvency issues, collateral warranties, downstream sub‑contracts, dispute resolution, and major development projects for funders, developers, employers, and contractors.

Non-contentious

• Acted for a leading NI fit-out contractor in negotiating high-value residential and hotel fit-out contracts for London-based projects.
• Acted for a range of REITs in the preparation of construction documentation for developments including retail parks; industrial units; healthcare facilities; hotels; student accommodation; office and commercial parks.
• Acted for the owners of a South Kensington listed residential property in drafting contract terms for an extensive refurbishment project.
• Acted for a NYSE listed US manufacturer in closing out fit-out contracts for its European HO in London.
• Acted for a Canadian life sciences company in drafting and negotiating contracts for the fit-out works and related consultancy services at its new UK head office.
• Acted for a museum in drafting construction contracts for the extensive refurbishment and fit-out of a children’s museum in a Grade II Listed building in London.
• Acted for specialist contractors in updating bespoke contract terms, conditions and amendments.
• Acted for a NI specialist engineering and fabrication company in agreeing terms for long-term supply agreements critical to the UK Full Fibre roll-out programme.
• Acted for a Mayfair-based financial consultancy in amending and negotiating a building contract for extensive refurbishment works to its head office.
• Acted for a UK developer in drafting and negotiating a partnership agreement with contractors for the design and construction of high-specification residential properties in Bedfordshire.
• Acted for a property owner purchasing the design and build of a high-value prefabricated residence manufactured in the EU and re-negotiating the terms of the Sale and Purchase Agreement.
• Advised BPI on a major London airport refurbishment contract.
• Advised the V&A on its construction contract and related documents for the new David Bowie Centre situated within the V&A East Storehouse in the Queen Elizabeth Park, London.

Contentious

• Acted for the Administrators of a national contractor in pursuing and recovering contractor entitlements across a range of UK civil engineering and construction projects.
• Acted for an Irish mechanical services contractor in pursuing financial entitlements for work undertaken on a healthcare project; subsequently terminating its contract for main contractor default and negotiating a successful resolution of all claims directly with the employer concerned.
• Acted for a group of property owners in pursuing the recovery of damages from the developer of a new apartment building in respect of extensive defects, incomplete works and a failure to procure effective long-term warranties.
• Acted for a property developer in pursuing its claim for damages sustained because of the professional negligence of its consultant in administrating a building contract which directly exposed the developer to an opportunist “smash and grab” adjudication.
• Acted for the largest French contractor in relation to the defence of employer claims arising from EDC contracts for UK waste-to-energy projects.
• Acted for a MEP services contractor in successfully challenging an employer claim of building-wide defects based on flawed expert opinion and reports.
• Acted for a national contractor in defence of claims of breach of contract and negligence arising from the alleged defective design and construction of a coffer dam said to have caused structural damage to adjoining properties.
• Acted for a steelwork contractor in pursing financial entitlements on an Isle of Man contract including the right to terminate on the basis of employer default and the recovery of ensuing losses.
• Pursuing the successful recovery of monies due to a groundworks contractor in adjudication – based on a failure to comply with payment requirements.
• Advised the market-leading stonework and restoration contractor on diverse contractual issues related to the compromising of claims and the re-setting of contracts in a deed of variation.
• Acted for a nursing home operator in successfully challenging its landlord for a serial disregard of fire safety obligations and defective construction works, which ultimately was the basis of the operator being able to justify the termination of its service agreement.

Advising across the full spectrum of corporate legal work, our corporate lawyers support clients with angel investment, banking and finance, capital restructuring, corporate finance, company incorporation, directors’ duties, insolvency and restructuring, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, NDAs, partnership and shareholder agreements, and venture capital.

• Assisted in acting in the company restructure of one of the UK’s largest independent and social care providers, pursuant to a merger, and the re-securitisation of its entire portfolio of properties situate in Northern Ireland.
• Undertook a corporate restructure of Translink Group including bus, rail and networks businesses.
• Implemented share buy-backs, share forfeitures and reductions of share capital for companies with exiting various directors and shareholders.
• Advised on crowdfunding platforms and their terms and conditions of fund-raising.
• Advised on a state-of-the-art £105 million manufacturing joint venture with a Spanish rolling stock company.
• Advised on the liquidation and exit of a shareholder from a £28m investment from private equity.
• Undertook a corporate restructure and share-for-share exchange for a modern men’s health startup.
• Undertook a recapitalisation and re-domicile transaction for a major Danish fund in its relocation of a core business from the USA and Mexico to London.
• Advised Boards on directors’ appointment terms, voting rights, Directors & Officers (D&O) indemnities and crafting bespoke articles of association for different scenarios.
• Supported Alt Ltd in negotiations around the term sheet and then further for investors and shareholders. Advised the founder to retain key controls and protections over the company.
• Drafted shareholders’ agreements and investment agreements for seed rounds, Series A, and private equity transactions for UK growth companies (including Tech Nation and Opus Community companies).
• Created corporate governance handbooks and training programmes covering directors’ duties, anti-bribery programmes, whistleblowing investigations, fraud and risk management.
• Advised on £5m investment into a financial comparison site.
• Advised on a £10–20m Series A fundraising.
• Advised on a portfolio equity stakes in 6 startups to be made by a new model of accelerator.
• Provided specialist corporate and IT law advice to a departing founder, shareholder and employee of a rapidly growing tech business.
• Advised on £5m convertible loan note for several fintech and payments companies.
• Led the legal work across many different contract documents to land new investments in Dream Factory for the founders
• Supported companies with term sheets from investors including drag, tag, anti-dilution rights, and reverse vesting.

Our Northern Ireland dispute resolution lawyers advise on a wide range of matters, including disputes relating to agency, construction issues, debt collection, defamation, franchising, fraud, health and safety, insurance claims, intellectual property, partnerships and LLPs, professional negligence, and property. They are experienced in advising on alternative dispute resolution methods, including arbitration, adjudication, conciliation, and mediation, as well as litigating in court.

• Acted for the largest French contractor in relation to the defence of employer claims arising from EDC contracts for UK waste-to-energy projects.
• Acted for a national contractor in defence of claims of breach of contract and negligence arising from the alleged defective design and construction of a coffer dam said to have caused structural damage to adjoining properties.
• Represented a leading supplier to the foodservice sector in the UK, Ireland, France and Sweden in relation to various contentious matters. 
• Advised Bank of Ireland on enforcement of corporate guarantees and debentures, and  advised on rights and duties under syndicated loans.
• Represented an Irish Financial Services technology provider in a dispute with Centenary Bank (an African Bank) regarding over-deployment of licensed services and unpaid licence fees.

Advising on the full spectrum of IP matters, our intellectual property experts guide clients on the assignment, auditing, and ownership of rights; clinical trial agreements; copyright, database and design rights; patents; protection of confidential information; trade marks and branding; licensing; software agreements; and settlement of IP disputes.

• Advised a biotechnology company on the licensing of its patent-protected technology in Japan.
• Advised a leading firm of London patent attorneys on a patent licence taking into account the complex history of the parties.
• Designed and provided a Northern Ireland university with a training course on intellectual property contracts.
• Advised a Northern Ireland-based inventor on her intellectual property rights in relation to the invention.
• Acted for a leading London university on IP commercialisation with IP Group plc.
• Advised on numerous high-value patent litigation settlements.
• Advised a UK research institute upon intellectual property rights in a database of text messages.
• Advised a leading London patent attorney firm on a patent licence involving a complex party history.
• Acted for Absynth Biologics on research collaboration agreement with Morphosys AG relating to Staphylococcus aureus infections including MRSA.
• Advised on the assignment of patents and related rights on technology with a complex history including multiple inventors.
• Acted for a start-up on a multi-programme research collaboration and licence in the food allergies sector.
• Advised a leading UK research institute on the licensing out technology for the treatment of Covid-19.
• Acted for an SME on numerous clinical trial agreements for a Phase III trial in a rare disease.

Our Northern Ireland tax lawyers advise on corporate acquisitions and disposals, tax‑efficient structures, share schemes, the Enterprise Investment Scheme, tax covenants and indemnities, and vehicles for property development and investment. Their expertise also covers SDLT and VAT on property, and restructuring including demergers and incorporations.

Corporate Tax

• Advised on the demerger of large NI-based retail business to separate NI and Scottish activities into distinct corporate groups.
• Advised on the tax matters for life sciences compliance software company, Ennov on the UK aspects of its strategic acquisition of CALYX’s Enterprise Technology division.
• Advised on the implementation of CSOP scheme for a manufacturer of heavy plant.
• Acted in the pre-sale restructuring and eventual sale of manufacturer ultimately owned by offshore trust, including EMI and part-paid share scheme planning.
• Advised on tax law matters, including corporate acquisitions, transactions, and tax-efficient structures for the acquisition of the technology of Sequeestor Limited, a cross-border acquisition by a NASDAQ company of the intellectual property rights of a UK-based global provider of video analytics technology.
• Advised on tax matters for the owners of a flooring company, in the sale of its entire issued share capital to a private equity consortium.
• Advised on tax matters for the shareholders of Integrum Power Engineering Ltd on its sale to the utility and energy resources company, OCU Group Limited (OCU). OCU is backed by Triton Partners.
• Provided advice on various tax aspects to certain shareholders of a specialist data, analysis and advisory firm on the sale of their shares.
• Provided assistance on various corporate transactional aspects to tech start-up which is developing Web3, blockchain and NFT technologies to create the next-generation brand, fan and commerce experience to deepen consumer experience on its founder shareholder agreement.

Property Tax

• Advised on the tax-efficient incorporation of large care home business originally carried out via a number of discrete partnerships.
• Advised property developers on SDLT implications of site fine arrangements.
• Advised on the acquisition of a Luxembourg company holding UK commercial property, including advising on right-sizing of target debt at completion and use of brought-forward tax losses.
• Advised on the acquisition of a Jersey SPV holding recently developed residential property in Belgravia, addressing corporation tax, VAT and SDLT issues.
• Advised on the restructuring of a property investment group to separate properties into suitable vehicles to allow separate security arrangements to be made by different lenders.
• Provided advice on various corporate and tax aspects to a founding partner of an internal architectural LLP who was seeking to exit over a period of two years from the practice.