About Pat
Pat is a partner and heads up our public & regulatory team, specialising in public administrative law, regulation and compliance, litigation and dispute resolution, procurement, data and intellectual property.
Pat has particular expertise in the public administrative and regulatory law spheres, having acted for public sector clients for many years. He advises on all aspects of regulatory law and compliance, public administrative law, statutory interpretation, corporate governance, ethics, freedom of information and data protection issues. Pat advises on fair procedures and due process and has represented State and semi-State clients in the defence of judicial review actions for many years. He has developed considerable experience in the drafting of statutory instruments on behalf of public sector clients and frequently advises in respect of such matters. He has represented such clients in various statutory fora in conducting investigations, prosecutions and appeal hearings.
Pat also practises in the commercial litigation area. He specialises in dispute resolution, including defamation, inter-company and complex corporate litigation. He also frequently advises on all aspects of procurement law, to include in respect of procurement challenges pursuant to the various European directives and national implementing measures.
Relevant Experience
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Recently acted for a State Institution in the defence of procurement proceedings in the Commercial Court in the first case to come before the Irish courts pursuant to Reg. 32 of S.I. no. 284 of 2016, European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations, 2016
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Recently successfully represented an international air ambulance organisation as a notice party in procurement judicial review proceedings issued by an unsuccessful tenderer before the Commercial Court
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Assisting a semi-State body on the drafting of a number of statutory instruments pursuant to recently enacted primary legislation
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Frequently advises regulators on the proper and intra vires exercise of their statutory powers
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Advising regulators in respect of appeals of their decisions before statutory appeal bodies
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Advised a third level educational institution on the successful resolution of a significant dispute with a statutory body involved in the accreditation of certain programmes within the institution. This matter would have had extremely significant consequences for our client had the accreditation not been forthcoming, as it would have put several of its programme offerings in jeopardy
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Advised Limerick 2030 DAC on all aspects of the procurement process for the provision of various services in respect of the transformational Opera site in Limerick
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Represented a third level educational institution in a complex defamation dispute before the High Court in connection with issues that arose during the placement of students on work experience in Asia as part of their degree programmes. This case involves very interesting issues of law in respect of the allegation of defamation and the possible defences available, duties owed by a third level provider to its students on placement, the nature of the legal relationship between a third level institution and placement providers as well as issues of jurisdiction and conflict of laws
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Acted on behalf of a corporate client in the successful defence of long-running injunctive proceedings before the High Court pursuant to section 160 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, in addition to connected judicial review proceedings as notice party, in respect of the proposed harvesting of kelp in Bantry Bay, Co. Cork
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Recently acted for Greyhound Racing Ireland in the successful defence of judicial review proceedings brought by an applicant in the High Court and subsequently Court of Appeal, challenging the issuance of an exclusion order by our client pursuant to section 47 of the Greyhound Industry Act 1958, as amended