22 Jan 2026
McCann FitzGerald LLP announces nine Of Counsel appointments
"McCann FitzGerald LLP has appointed nine lawyers as Of Counsel across disputes, real estate and construction, finance, corporate, procurement, aviation, debt capital markets, tax, technology and investment funds."
Grace Armstrong has been promoted to Of Counsel. She has extensive experience in corporate restructuring and insolvency procedures and has acted for insolvency practitioners, companies, directors, financial institutions and lenders in both contentious and non-contentious matters. She also specialises in commercial litigation, including shareholder disputes, challenges to enforcement and cross-border debt collection and recovery proceedings.
Clementine Farrell has been promoted to Of Counsel. She works across the Pensions & Incentives Group’s employer and trustee client list advising on trustee duties, the exercise of trustee discretions, application of statutory regulations, administrative matters and review of service level agreements, pension adjustment orders, internal dispute resolution and referrals to the FSPO. She also advises on strategic projects such as buy-outs, enhanced transfer value exercises, funding issues, parent company guarantees, mergers and wind-ups. She is Chairperson of the Association of Pension Lawyers in Ireland and is a Chartered Accountant.
Orla Courtney has been promoted to Of Counsel. She is a senior lawyer specialising in real estate finance, carrying out diligence and advising lenders on the real estate aspects of financing development and acquisition of commercial property, including office, retail, industrial, hospitality, PRS, student and private residential accommodation and wind farm premises.
Emma Hinds has been promoted to Of Counsel. She has considerable experience in public procurement law, advising public and private sector clients on all aspects of procurement processes throughout the full lifecycle—from structuring competitions and preparing tender documents to contract execution and post-award issues. Her contentious work includes defending procurement challenges in the High Court and Commercial Court.
Kate Clancy has been promoted to Of Counsel. She specialises in banking and aviation finance and asset leasing transactions, acting for leading aircraft lessors and financiers on matters including sale and leaseback transactions, restructurings, portfolio acquisitions and disposals and cross-border leasing transactions.
Sarah Pickering has been promoted to Of Counsel. She advises domestic and international financial institutions, non-bank lenders and corporates across a wide range of finance and debt capital markets products, including corporate borrowing, structured finance, securitisation, corporate bonds, real estate finance, digital infrastructure finance and loan-on-loan finance.
Caitríona Callanan has been promoted to Of Counsel. She advises domestic and international clients on the Irish tax aspects of corporate transactions and on advisory matters such as establishing and structuring operations in Ireland. She has particular expertise in employment-related tax issues, including share awards, tax-efficient remuneration and reward programmes and severance payments. She is Head of the Tax Compliance Unit and leads a team delivering Irish tax compliance services across corporation tax, VAT, stamp duty, payroll taxes, share scheme reporting, betting duty and withholding taxes.
Catherine Walsh has been promoted to Of Counsel. She is a member of the Technology & Innovation Group advising on data and technology law and outsourcing matters, with a focus on data protection, intellectual property, digital regulation, cyber security law and commercial contracts. She advises clients across the public and private sectors, including life sciences and research, and supports the firm’s corporate transactions on related issues.
David Higgins has been appointed as Of Counsel in the Investment Management Group. Based in the firm’s Dublin office, he advises on financial services and asset management matters with an emphasis on the establishment, authorisation, operation and maintenance of investment funds, including AIFs and UCITS, and on MiFID investment firms. He joined the firm’s IMG group as an Of Counsel in October.