Dechert has begun offering training contracts in its Dublin office, as the US firm eyes growth opportunities in the Irish market.
Dechert launched training contracts in its Dublin office in the second half of 2017 by taking on two local law graduates as trainees. It is understood that the US firm will offer two or three training contracts to local candidates each year as it focuses on organic growth seven years after it established an office in the Irish market.
“Because we are new in the market place, we’ve hired laterally to build up the office. We haven’t had a pool of trainees coming through. We’ve recently launched the trainee programme in Dublin for the first time. It’s also a good way to differentiate ourselves from the other international players,” says Dechert Dublin partner Declan O’Sullivan.
Currently, Dechert’s Dublin office has 10 lawyers, including three partners. The team has been solely focusing on financial services and funds since its opening in 2010. There are also eight paralegals based in Dublin providing support to the firm’s global funds practice. But O’Sullivan indicates the firm will look at other areas opportunistically.
“Dublin is a global centre for investment funds, aircraft leasing and IT. The market is performing well above average in terms of the provision of legal work, as several key industries require a high degree of sophisticated legal support,” said O’Sullivan. “We would be interested in expanding opportunistically, in areas including financial real estate, securitisation and maybe corporate.”
The recently launched trainee programme is a manifesto for Dechert’s growth plan in Ireland, where it expects to see growing workload.
“No doubt there’ll be increased workload due to Brexit. For example, the central bank has asked The European Central Bank has asked financial firms and funds to come up with Brexit contingency plans,” he added.
Driven both by Ireland’s fast-growing economy and the aftermath of UK’s Brexit referendum result, a number of international firms have expanded into the market in the past year, including Pinsent Masons, Covington & Burling and Simmons & Simmons.
In addition, over 1,300 solicitors in England and Wales have registered in Ireland since the EU referendum, in a bid to retain their rights to represent clients in European courts after Brexit.
Eversheds Sutherland has transferred more solicitors onto the Irish Roll than any other firm in the year until 21 November 2017. It added 46 lawyers to the Irish Roll, taking its total to 132.
