Pinsent Masons has announced it is to open an office in Dublin. The firm, which has an office in Belfast, has hired three partners from local firms to run the operation. Walkers investment funds partner Gayle Bowen, Mathesons outsourcing partner Andreas Carney, and Byrne Wallace corporate partner Dennis Agnew join the practice -  which has been on the lookout for a Dublin presence for some time. 

International firms

Whilst the firm does not claim Brexit was responsible for its decision, the Irish Law Society has seen unprecedented numbers of British lawyers register on the Irish roll of solicitors with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer heading the list. DLA Piper has also made its intentions known on Dublin with the firm actively looking to launch an office in the capital. Other international law firms in Dublin include DAC Beachcroft, Kennedys, BLM and DWF, Eversheds Sutherland, Dechert, Walkers and Maples & Calder.  

Belfast promotion

In Belfast, the firm has appointed Andrea McIlroy-Rose as head of its NI office. Andrea was the first female partner of leading Belfast firm L'Estrange & Brett when it merged with McGrigors in 2009 and then Pinsent Masons in 2012.  For the last four years Andrea has led the Belfast property team of 14 lawyers and in addition she has an elected board position on the firm's remuneration and partnership committee as well as being head of the firm's UK retail property team.

Acquisitions

In a separate move, Pinsent Masons also, last week, announced the acquisition of diversity and inclusion consultancy Brook Graham, which specialises in the strategic management of D&I in global companies. By joining forces, the two companies will offer a more holistic approach to developing commercially and legally sustainable solutions for creating more diverse and inclusive workplaces. The firm also recently acquired a minority stake in 'New Law' start-up business Yuzu and has a majority stake in cloud-based compliance venture Cerico, and has recently expanded its legal resourcing hub, Vario, into Australia.