Mason Hayes & Curran sees revenues jump 25% to €60m

Law firm considers relocating to accommodate staff after 20% rise in numbers on back of economic recovery and business from international clients

Irish law firm Mason Hayes & Curran increased its revenue by 25 per cent in 2014 to €60 million, according to figures supplied to The Irish Times.

Managing partner Declan Black said about 40 per cent of this growth related to work undertaken on behalf of international clients operating in Ireland. The strong results also reflected the uptick in activity in the Irish economy generally.

Mason Hayes & Curran hired 64 new staff last year in response to continued workflows. Mr Black said the firm would consider moving from its current head office in Barrow Street to accommodate its growth in staff numbers.

It now has 375 employees, including 72 partners, and recently leased additional office space in neighbouring buildings. Mr Black said the firm would consider moving to a 100,000 sq ft building in an effort to accommodate its entire staff under the one roof.

READ MORE

Commenting on the prospects for 2015, Mr Black said he was “confident of continued growth” albeit that it was unlikely to replicate the strong double-digit rise of last year.

“Sustainable growth is usually single digit,” he added.

Mr Black said the firm’s financial services, property, corporate and tax units had “particularly strong years” in 2015.

Its corporate practice acted for Irish Residential Properties REIT on its IPO in Dublin and for Brookfied Renewable Energy Partners in its €700 million acquisition of certain assets from Bórd Gáis.

Mr Black said this year looks like being another busy year for corporate, with a “significant pipeline of M&A [mergers and acquisitions] activity and IPOs”.

In financial services, Mason Hayes & Curran secured mandates on a number of loan portfolio sales. It is currently acting for Permanent TSB on the €1.5 billion sale of its Leinster and Munster portfolios.

In dispute resolution, the firm acted for Ulster Bank in the internal inquiry sparked by the Tomlinson report in the UK into its parent company Royal Bank of Scotland.

It also represented cable television and telecoms provider UPC in defence of proceedings taken by Sony Music Entertainment (Ireland) Ltd in relation to an alleged infringement of music copyright.

And the firm acted for Kerry Group in trademark infringement proceedings in the commercial court against retailer Dunnes Stores. In addition, it represented social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo in High Court litigation.

Mason Hayes & Curran is one of the few Irish law firms to publish its revenues each year.

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock is Business Editor of The Irish Times