Noted by IFLR1000 for his “unruffled” approach to finding commercial and practical solutions, Baxter, the head of insolvency at A&L, has acted in some of the most significant Irish restructuring operations in recent years — advising Quinn Group on its €1.3 billion debt, Ladbrokes Ireland on its successful examinership, and the €4 billion restructuring of Eircom.

He also worked with the special liquidators of IBRC (Irish Bank Resolution Corporation) on all aspects of the liquidation including its €22 billion loan sale deleveraging. A graduate of Trinity College, Baxter has juggled membership of INSOL Europe and the International Bar Association’s insolvency and restructuring group during his 25-year stint at A&L.

Cahir is the head of insolvency and corporate recovery at Beauchamps, which he joined after 17 years at William Fry. He led the Beauchamps team representing Sean’s Bar, which claims to be Ireland’s oldest pub and was one of four businesses to successfully make a claim against FBD Insurance for its failure to pay out on pandemic-era business disruption claims. In 2022, he was appointed as president of INSOL Europe, the European group for bankruptcy and business reconstruction experts, having served as the first nominee from the Irish Society of Insolvency Practitioners (ISIP) on the Company Law Review Group from 2014 to 2020.

Also deserving of praise in Beauchamp’s corporate restructuring team is Clíodhna Walsh who specialises in personal insolvencies. She has been active in the Small Company Administrative Rescue Process (Scarp), and is highly regarded by those who have worked with her.

While on her J1 in California, Freeman fell into what she termed an “accidental” internship in “some office” — which turned out to be the headquarters of US multinational Morrison & Foerster’s, working on a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the state’s public schools, which settled for hundreds of millions of dollars. The experience gave her both a decent anecdote to dine out on and a taste for life in a big firm that proved invaluable in her early career.

Insolvency has been her bread and butter since qualifying with Arthur Cox during the crash years, and Freeman has advised a number of high-profile companies and insolvency practitioners during various court-ordered restructurings. She is one of a small number of female lawyers practising in insolvency, and was made partner in Dentons last year. Freeman’s name is frequently mentioned among insolvency and legal practitioners in the restructuring world.

A Matheson partner since 2014, having joined the firm in 2005, Colgan has acted for financial institutions, creditor groups, Nama, receivers, examiners and companies in both contentious and non-contentious high-profile corporate restructuring cases — including capital reductions in the cases of Eaton Corporation, Tullow Oil and Weatherford International.

He has advised on many cross-border mergers, in Ireland and elsewhere, including the merger of Citibank Europe with a number of its European sister companies — the first cross-border merger into Ireland — as well as that of various companies under the banner of Henkel, the German chemicals giant.

William Fry

Doorly has advised some of the most well-known insolvency practitioners in Ireland, including Mick McEnteer as examiner of Weatherford International Limited, Ken Fennell and James Anderson as liquidators of Karen Millen Ireland Limited, and Neil Hughes as examiner of Regan Development Limited.

As well as acting in a successful application to block the appointment of an examiner to New Look in 2020, he also guided retailers such as Mothercare, Debenhams and B&Q through successful processes and advised stakeholders in the case of House of Fraser. With experience across all areas of commercial litigation, Doorly has particular expertise in shareholder and contractual disputes, as well as financial services and tax litigation.