REVENUES AT top six law firm Mason Hayes+Curran rose by 8.9 per cent in 2010 to €39.2 million, according to figures provided to The Irish Times.
Managing partner Emer Gilvarry described it as a satisfactory performance and said it was driven in part by the recruitment of 20 lawyers and three partners to the practice in the period.
“The partners are very pleased with the performance but really it was all about investment in the practice,” she said.
“We are a growing law firm rather than an established firm and we’ve made the decision to use the recession to attract quality people to the firm.
“We are continuing to invest by bringing more new hires into the business.”
Mason Hayes has continued its recruitment into 2011, hiring another 22 lawyers and three partners. Recruitment is being focused on litigation, financial services, tax and corporate.
Ms Gilvarry said there continues to be “on-going downward pressure on fees” with clients seeking discounts of up to 50 per cent in some cases.
No profit figure was provided but Mason Hayes+Curran is one of the few Irish law firms to release its revenue number each year.
Mason Hayes had a busy year in mergers and acquisitions.
It represented LaCrosse Global Fund Services in its acquisition of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s global alternative fund administration business, and Mylan Inc in its $550 million purchase of Bioniche Pharma Holdings Ltd.
In terms of foreign direct investment, the firm helped ZeniMax Online Gaming and Etsy to establish operations in Ireland.
It is also acting for US-based Liberty Mutual in its acquisition of Quinn Insurance.
Ms Gilvarry said there is increased interest in investing in Ireland from companies in Asia.
“It could be tyre kicking but there’s definitely been an increase in interest in doing business here from Asian countries.”
It also had an active year on dispute resolutions, financial services and retail, where it has represented Dixons, Fat Face and Toys R Us.
The firm also advised on the financial restructuring of Aer Arann last year and the transfer of certain property loans and assets to Nama.
Founded in 1968, Mason Hayes+Curran employs more than 280 staff overall, including 135 lawyers and more than 50 partners.
