Eversheds Sutherland (International) has signed up to lease a building in Dublin 2 from next year as it continues to add staff following the setting up of a new Irish practice under the global legal brand.
It follows the winding down of Eversheds Sutherland Ireland after it held failed merger talks with William Fry.
The 13,000sq m (139,930sq ft) Cadenza building, completed in late 2022 for Irish Life, is situated on a prominent corner site at the junction of Earlsfort Terrace and Adelaide Road – about 100m from the firm’s existing location, where the lease runs out next summer.
London-based Eversheds Sutherland (International) put the pre-existing Irish practice on notice that it was taking back the Eversheds name after it emerged late last year that it was in talks on a tie-up to William Fry.
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The new Irish practice, set up in September, is fully integrated into Eversheds Sutherland (International), with the Dublin office led by managing partner Pamela O’Neill and Gareth Planck at the helm of its Belfast location.
“We are delighted to announce that the Dublin office will relocate to the prestigious new Cadenza building centrally located in Dublin 2 in 2026,” said Ms O’Neill.
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“This investment is a significant milestone in the development of our integrated practice in Dublin and will provide a modern, collaborative environment for our people and our clients, which supports the firm’s approach to growth, hybrid working and sustainability.”
The new practice started off in September with 170 staff – almost 60 per cent of the workforce of Eversheds Sutherland Ireland before it began tie-up discussions with William Fry. It took on the remainder of the lease on the exiting Dublin office.
The staff count is on track to rise to 189 in early January, when four new hires start, according to Ms O’Neill.
Employees currently holding practising solicitor certificates stand at 81 – which it would leave it hovering around 20th position on the list of firms in the State with such certificates. Eversheds Sutherland Ireland had 107 holders of practising certificates at the end of 2024, leaving it in 12th position on the list, according to Law Society data.
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The certificates count is on track to rise early next year with the new hires and “a number of” newly qualified solicitors joining the practice in February, according to a spokeswoman for the firm.
A number of other law firms hired senior Eversheds Sutherland Ireland figures amid the fallout from the failed merger talks. William Fry said in September that it had snapped up a 12-member corporate and mergers and acquisitions team, led by Gerard Ryan, from Eversheds Sutherland Ireland. The latter’s former managing partner, Alan Connell, who had led the William Fry combination discussions, joined law firm Philip Lee in October.
Keith Froud, global co-chief executive of Eversheds Sutherland, told The Irish Times in a joint interview with Ms O’Neill that the new structure of the Irish business, as a fully integrated part of the international practice, offers greater opportunities for staff and makes it easier to support clients doing business in multiple jurisdictions.
The firm says it advises eight of the largest 15 listed companies with headquarters in Ireland and wider group of global clients with bases in the State. Large corporations often retain multiple law firms to handle different types of legal matters.
“Any big change can be a distraction. But what we have now is a new firm and great clarity and certainty,” said Ms O’Neill. “I think that clients have been extremely loyal.”
She said that she has her “eye on” building up the business in time to be a top-10 player. “I think in the Irish market you have to have scale and a certain depth – and to be in the top 10 is a good starting point,” she said. “But it’s not the only measure of success.”
