The 10 Best Employment Lawyers in Dublin

If you’re facing conflicts in your workplace that you want to resolve legally, you need reliable legal counsel from the top employment lawyers in Dublin.

In this guide, we assessed the services of Dublin law firms specialising in employment law and laid down the types of fees you can expect for their service.

For those seeking legal help for employment matters outside of Dublin, you may refer to our list of the best employment lawyers in Ireland, by the way. But if you’re a Dubliner, keep reading!

How much does an employment lawyer charge in Dublin?

Lawyer fees vary greatly depending on the following factors:

• Complexity of the issue
• The specific law expertise involved
• Duration of the service (including research on the issue)
• Urgency of the issue
• The volume and complexity of documents involved
• The number and cost of transactions involved
• If there’s a limitation of the lawyer’s liability
• Cost of expert witness (if any)

There are different fee structures you and your lawyer may agree on:

Contingency fee: The lawyer takes a percentage of the money you receive from settling your case. If your claim is unsuccessful, then you don’t pay a fee at all.

This can be prohibited by law for certain types of cases, so make sure you check first if it’s legal for your case.

Flat fee: This usually applies to simple legal services, such as making a will.

Hourly rate: At present, the following are good estimates of average hourly rates for lawyers in Dublin:

Doctor	Consultation Fees
Partner in medium-sized law firm	€400
Associate solicitor	€300
Junior counsel	€200

Retainer fee: This is a predetermined amount paid in advance before any legal work is done. The amount is usually based on the lawyer’s hourly rate multiplied by their estimate of the duration of the service.

This works like a deposit; the lawyer deducts from this amount the costs of the service as it’s ongoing.

This fee may be nonrefundable. Because this arrangement varies from lawyer to lawyer, make sure that your lawyer describes to you your fee structure in detail.

Statutory fee: This amount is set by regulation or court for certain cases, such as bankruptcy.

The Best Employment Lawyers in Dublin

To make sure we give you trusted employment lawyers in Dublin, we only selected Legal 500-approved tier one firms in employment law.

We evaluated them in the following areas:

Practice areas: How varied are the services they offer? How diverse are the industries they have worked with?

Efficiency: Using PitchBook’s data on the company’s number of serviced deals, how productive is the firm?

The number of serviced deals isn’t the total of the client work they’ve done over the years, but it gives us a hint of how efficient they are at delivering their service.

Experience: Compared to other lawyers on the list, how established is the firm? How many years have they been in business?

Reputation: Have they received any industry-relevant awards? How do clients perceive them? Are clients satisfied with their service?

1. McCann FitzGerald LLP

PRACTICE AREAS	★★★★☆ (4/5)
	Total number of services listed: 38
EFFICIENCY	★★★★☆ (4/5)
	Hard numbers: 74 deals in 57 years
EXPERIENCE	★★★☆☆ (3/5)
	Year founded: 1965
REPUTATION	★★★★★ (5/5)

With almost 600 employees, McCann Fitzgerald is one of Ireland’s leading law firms. They largely cater to corporate clients, including financial institutions, but they have also worked with government organisations.

Their Employment Law Group serves national and international organisations, and we’re happy to see that they’re a multilingual firm with Cantonese, French, German, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish speakers.

Like all the other firms on this list, Legal 100 designated them to tier one of the employment law category. The research firm recognizes McCann Fitzgerald’s efforts in anti-discrimination and whistleblowing cases.

With a whistleblower expert on their team, we think they may be good to have on your side if you suspect that someone in your organisation is doing fraudulent work.

On the contentious (legal work that involves disputes) side of their employment law practice, they defend employers in mediations and at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and the High Court.

This suggests to us that they mainly protect corporate interests. Furthermore, we also haven’t found in their key work highlights any instances of representing employees.

This lack of employee representation, however, doesn’t seem to affect their clients’ overall regard of the firm. Clients commend them for their responsiveness and collaborativeness.

We recommend McCann Fitzgerald for corporate clients dealing with employment disputes. The experienced litigators on their team are quick without sacrificing service quality.

Customer Reviews

Second to none

“My experience with this firm is second to none. I found their attention to detail unrivalled. Their correspondence is direct and to the point without being aggressive. What amazed me was their ability to reply to litigious correspondence almost immediately while keeping to the highest standards. I was particularly impressed by the analytical review of a case and their ability to call an important determination. I would highly recommend.” —Legal 500 review

Proactive

“The firm were most proactive in assessing the matter, strong in collaborating with counsel and providing robust advice in a timely manner ultimately, providing peace of mind to the client body.” —Client feedback on Benchmark Litigation

2. J.O.S Solicitors

PRACTICE AREAS	★★★★☆ (4/5)
EFFICIENCY	★★★★☆ (4/5)
EXPERIENCE	★★★★☆ (4/5)
REPUTATION	★★★★☆ (4/5)

Who wouldn’t want a law firm that has both individual and business legal and consultancy services, right?

As we came across J.O.S Solicitors, we are impressed by the services they have to offer if you are in need of a law firm in Dublin.

J.O.S Solicitors is an award-winning law firm that offers legal services for individuals and businesses and consultancy services that have been recognized by AIB Private Banking plus this law firm is also a part of the Law Society of Ireland.

One of their members, Jason O’Sullivan, was even given the title “Lawyer of Year” at last year’s Irish Law Awards 2023. Plus, the firm won a national award for “Excellence and Innovation in Client Services”.

It is also impressive that they have recognized that the legal landscape in Ireland is changing, as our client needs. Their business model takes a novel approach to provide legal and consulting services.

They are better positioned to provide a more tailored service to their clients, delivered in an efficient, expert, and cost-effective manner, by focusing their expertise on specific practice areas while embracing the latest technology.

Customer Reviews

“J.O.S Solicitors provides prompt, effective legal and human resources consulting. The firm operates at the highest professional standard, delivering contract agreements and offering employment advice at cost-effective rates. Select Ambition advises our clients to consult with J.O.S solicitors and can report excellent feedback on results to date,” – Maurice Pike, Managing Director, Select Ambition, IFSC, Dublin 1, Corporate Client.

“I highly recommend Jason and the team at J.O.S Solicitors. Jason was a pleasure to deal with and dealt with our instruction in a timely and professional manner with excellent communication and advice along the process.” – Graham Mulhearne, CEO, Mulhearne Media, Dublin, Corporate Client.

3. Arthur Cox

PRACTICE AREAS	★★★☆☆ (3/5)
	Total number of services listed: 26
EFFICIENCY	★★★☆☆ (3/5)
	Hard numbers: 89 deals in 102 years
EXPERIENCE	★★★★☆ (4/5)
	Year founded:  1920
REPUTATION	★★★★★ (5/5)

One of the century-old firms in this list is Arthur Cox. They have an international clientele consisting of financial institutions, state bodies, and multinational corporations.

We’re pleased to note that they have French, German, and Spanish speakers on their team who are beneficial to their international work.

With the largest employment law team in the country, Arthur Cox is known in this practice area for providing legal advice on how M&As affect employment arrangements.

And recently, because of the pandemic, they have also been called upon for help with company restructuring and redundancies (downsizing).

We’re happy to see that their employment law team deals with issues forwarded both by individual employees and corporate management.

They’re the only ones in this list we’ve found to do this. The other firms only mention serving corporate clients.

Their list of relevant experience shows that the firm has worked for both sides of employment disputes—for the employee and the employer.

On the side of employees, they’ve defended claims for personal injury, bullying, and harassment and represented them in the High Court concerning issues about unfair dismissal or disciplinary action.

On the side of employers, they represented employers in the High Court who sought to restrain union picketing.

Although we’re glad to see a full-service corporate law firm also work with individual employees, this can be tricky because of the conflicting interests of employees and employers.

This isn’t the only area where we’ve found the firm serves conflicting interests. In 2015, the Minister of Health pointed out that the firm represented tobacco businesses and the Health Service Executive at the same time.

This suggests to us that the firm’s selection of clients may not be principled.

Regardless of how they pick their clients, we’re still glad that individual employees get the chance to be represented by a top tier law firm.

Customer Reviews

“Professional, personable, helpful, able to communicate with great clarity and gauge their audience well (with an understanding that not all parties will have the same level of expert knowledge). Respected highly within the industry.” —Legal 500 review

Excellent

“We’ve been doing business with Arthur Cox for many years now and I can say that they are an excellent firm to deal with.” —Aine Fox, Google review

4. Mason Hayes & Curran LLP

PRACTICE AREAS	★★★★☆ (4/5)
	Total number of services listed: 31
EFFICIENCY	★★★★★ (5/5)
	Hard numbers: 84 deals in 52 years
EXPERIENCE	★★★☆☆ (3/5)
	Year founded: 1970
REPUTATION	★★★★★ (5/5)

Although Mason Hayes & Curran is the youngest firm on this list, they still have a competitive and promising Employment and Benefits team.

Their team is headed by Melanie Crowley whose qualifications is further boosted by her recent appointment to the Advisory Board of the American Employment Lawyers Council.

A client praises her and team member Ger Connolly for providing practical advice.

We’re happy to hear from another client that the team is willing to “call it” even when the client may not want to hear their advice. This, to us, indicates honesty, a good trait to have in your legal team.

To add to this list of positives for the firm, Mason Hayes & Curran was shortlisted for the Client Management Innovation category at the Legal Innovation Awards 2021.

They’re the only Irish firm who was selected for this category. This recognition lets clients know that Mason Hayes & Curran’s processes and technology used to provide their services stand out among the other law firms in this list.

The innovation they made in their procedures was especially geared toward protecting their intellectual property clients.

Even if your case doesn’t involve intellectual property, we still think you can benefit from the firm’s improved processes and technology.

This tells us that the firm is seeking ways to deliver their services in a safer and more efficient manner. This is why we give them five stars for efficiency.

As for drawbacks, similar to most firms on this list, Mason Hayes & Curran is primarily a corporate lawyer.

Their list of recent work shows wins for employers but not for employees. One of which was providing legal advice to an international food business to restrain employee picketing.

Still, the firm delivers on what they promise—to “empower employers.” And for that, their clients are highly satisfied with their service.

Customer Reviews

“Calls it”

“‘Good practical advice, with a willingness to “call it” rather than qualify or avoid hard answers.” —Legal 500 review

Good, practical advice

“Melanie Crowley and Ger Connolly provide good, practical advice. They also have a good industry-wide perspective which helps inform their advice and is very useful for us to “benchmark” our approach on various matters.” —Legal 500 review

5. William Fry

PRACTICE AREAS	★★★☆☆ (3/5)
	Total number of services listed: 27
EFFICIENCY	★★★★☆ (4/5)
	Hard numbers: 236 deals in 176 years
EXPERIENCE	★★★★☆ (4/5)
	Year founded: 1846
REPUTATION	★★★★★ (5/5)

One of the oldest law firms in this list, William Fry operates on both a national and an international scale—with cases in Asia, the US, and other European countries.

As such, we are pleased to find that they are a multilingual firm with French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Polish speakers. This would greatly help facilitate correspondence with their international clients and their respective courts.

Their client base consists of corporations, financial institutions, and state agencies. To these organisations, their Employment and Benefits team provide legal advice regarding pensions, employment terms, unfair dismissals, and more.

We’re happy to note that their team also provides training to HR teams about employment law. They’re the only firm in this list we have found to offer this service.

We think this service would benefit both employers and employees. With sufficient education about employment law, the client’s HR team can better mediate the employee-employer relationship.

On the flip side, we’re not so pleased to find that among their practice-relevant experiences, they listed helping Dunnes Stores overturn the High Court’s decision that required the employer to compensate for unfair dismissal and personal injury.

This is a win for the corporate client but sadly, a loss to their employees. This suggests to us that they primarily have corporate interests in mind.

We then recommend William Fry to corporate clients especially those who need representation in court and the WRC for employment disputes concerning unfair dismissal and personal injury.

Clients who fit the profile mentioned above are extremely satisfied with the firm’s service. They praise the team for having remarkable expertise in commercial matters and being excellent negotiators.

Customer Reviews

High quality, practical, and commercial advice

“William Fry are undoubtedly in the top tier of restructuring advisors in Ireland with a very strong team of experienced advisors. The firm has a reputation for high quality, practical and commercial advice. Of particular value on larger cases is their ability to draw on wider technical/sectoral experience from across the firm at short notice depending on the requirements of the case. Their other main strengths include the depth of their team from capable trainees to strong associates and very experienced partners and, unlike some other firms, their ability to turn around matters quickly and efficiently focusing on the key issues.” —IFLR1000 review

Outstanding

“We have used William Fry Solicitors for many years, primarily for private equity, M&A, banking and general advisory work. We have been very satisfied with their advice. In recent years, I have made extensive use of their dispute resolution, mediation and regulatory services. This work has been led by Lisa Carty and has been outstanding.” —IFLR1000 review

6. Matheson

PRACTICE AREAS	★★★★★ (5/5)
	Total number of services listed: 40
EFFICIENCY	★★★☆☆ (3/5)
	Hard numbers: 96 deals in 198 years
EXPERIENCE	★★★★★ (5/5)
	Year founded: 1824
REPUTATION	★★★★☆ (4/5)

The oldest firm on this list, Matheson is trusted by a majority of the world’s largest financial institutions and asset managers and top tech companies.

Their Employment, Pensions, and Benefits Group was formed more than two decades ago. For this practice area, they mostly work with employers in the following sectors: tech, pharma, and finance.

We appreciate that as part of their employment advisory work, they have been providing legal advice to American tech companies on how to close their gender pay gap. We see their concern for equal compensation.

However, we also note that as part of their employment litigation work, they have defended employers against discrimination and unfair dismissal claims.

We don’t know the details of these cases, so we can’t assess them properly. But it does make us consider that they may be working against individuals who are filing claims against employers to protect their workers’ rights.

Another cause of concern could be their Dawn Raid app. A source expressed apprehension about the software that provides a guide on how to deal with a Dawn Raid or other inspections by an Irish regulator.

The source questioned the credibility of Matheson’s clients since they needed assistance with surprise inspections. Inspections like these are only done by authorities if they suspect your firm has breached the law.

For these concerns, we took a star off their reputation score.

Still, we think Matheson is an excellent employment lawyer especially for corporate clients. Their many years in the industry proves the high quality of their service.

Corporate clients are happy that the team takes the time to get to know their organisation and make sure the firm also has the company’s best interests in mind.

Customer Reviews

The Matheson team cares

“This practice is unique because the Matheson team cares, they look after my organisation and our interests, resolving all our issues satisfactorily is paramount to us but also to our Matheson’s partners. They make sure they understand our business, the issues we deal with and are always able to provide different alternatives/solutions to conflicts we encounter in order to ensure the best outcome for us and those involved.” —Legal 500 review

Sound legal advice with good business judgement

“The practice does an exceptional job in getting their arms around complicated matters and pairing sound legal advice with good business judgment.” —Legal 500 review

7. IMK Law Solicitors

PRACTICE AREAS	★★★☆☆ (3/5)
	Total number of services listed: 19
EFFICIENCY	N/A
	Hard numbers: N/A
EXPERIENCE	★★★☆☆ (3/5)
	Year founded: 2020
REPUTATION	★★★★★ (5/5)

IMK Law Solicitors is an International Law Firm based in Dublin, Ireland that provides a wide range of legal services for both local and international clients. Their team is made up of professionals from different areas around the world. 

They deal with cases under different practice areas, such as Employment Law, Immigration, Family Law, Corporate Law, Intellectual Property, and much more. 

Being one of the country’s leading firms when it comes to immigration concerns, if you’re a non-EEA national with the means to invest in Ireland, they can help you with the Immigration Investor Programme. 

Wondering what you could expect from them if you seek their help? They’ll offer 1-on-1 consultations, break down and assess all the costs for you, as well as deal with printing and filing the paperwork. 

We understand that legal services can be quite costly, so we think it’s great to note that they also provide different payment options to ease the pressure on you. 

Although this firm is relatively young, there is no reason to doubt their capabilities and the quality of the services they provide. 

Most—if not all—of their clients attest to the excellence of their work. They’re able to set themselves apart by not only being professional and knowledgeable, but by also dealing with their clients with honesty and care. 

One thing, though, is that many of the testimonials we’ve come across pertain to immigration-related concerns, so we can’t be entirely sure about the rest of their services. 

However, we’d like to believe in their abilities as employment lawyers since they’ll soon be featured as the “Best Employment Lawyers in Ireland.”

They also consistently share their successful cases on their Facebook page, so this is something you can look at if you want to gauge if they’ll be able to help you with your case. 

While the firm as a whole has less experience compared to the rest of the firms we have in our list, we still think they’re one of your best options to seek help from based on their reputation and results.

Customer Reviews

Great service. Organised staff. Dealing the case in a professional manner. — Abdullah Ashraf

Imtaz and Kamal Shah was recommend by one of my friend . My sister applied through them , professionally handled and friendly staff . No lingering around . Highly recommended. — Djajay Dc

Imk law Selisitor is the best in Ireland. I had a problem before and I went to Imk law Selisitor and he help me and everything was sorted. I suggest everybody to go there if have any problem. Thanks very much for help me 🙏🙏🙏 — Dritan Pupi

8. Crushell & Co

PRACTICE AREAS	★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
	Total number of services listed: 5
EFFICIENCY	N/A
	Hard numbers: N/A
EXPERIENCE	★★★☆☆ (3/5)
	Year founded: 2020
REPUTATION	★★★★★ (5/5)

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this young firm isn’t reputable just based on its years of experience! Despite its relatively recent establishment, Crushell & Co. is still one of your leading options. 

You may be turned-off by the low rating for their number of services, but it’s only because they’re a specialist law firm ensuring the application of the law in Irish workplaces. 

Their solicitors advise both employers and employees about workplace matters. Their services include employment law, employment immigration, data, DPO & GDPR services, workplace injuries and workplace defamation. 

Moreover, they have solicitors who have expertise in various employment cases, like probationary dismissal, terms of employment, payment of wages, and working time, to name a few. 

Whatever workplace concern you need legal advice with, the solicitors at Crushell & Co. would be the best to approach and receive counsel from. 

Not only are their solicitors experts at what they do, they also approach each case with empathy and care. With this, they’re able to produce great results and have solved different workplace concerns and disputes. 

This is why their experience and practice areas shouldn’t be reasons to rule them out. Reading about the different experiences of their clients is enough proof to believe in their competence and ability to help you out. 

However, if you’re looking for a firm that can also cover other practice areas along with employment law, it may be best to check out the other firms we have in our list since this is a specialist firm.

Customer Reviews

I was nervous taking legal action for the first time but Barry,s professionalism and confidence in his abilities put my mind at ease straight away. Crushell & Co solicitor’s are a pleasure to deal with, very efficient and the knowledge and advice provided is second to none. If Barry thinks you have been unfairly treated, I’m 100% sure you will win your case. Thank God for honourable men like Barry. — Brian

Barry offered me expertise and knowledge when I needed it the most. His help offered me comfort and peace of mind. He is empathic and understanding of delicate situations.
Barry is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. I will gladly recommend him to anyone in need. — Laura Lazar

Barry is extremely knowledgeable and considered in the services that he provides. This deep legal knowledge is combined with a empathetic client centric approach, ensuring that the client receives top notch service. Recommended without hesitation.— Josh

9. BHSM LLP

BHSM is a fast-growing, full service corporate law firm that was founded in 2012. They aim to deliver effective and innovative legal solutions for all of their clients. 

Their number of practice areas and expertise is something that we find very impressive. They cover many fields, but their key practice areas are Corporate, Banking & Finance, Real Estate, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Insolvency & Corporate Restructuring, and Employment. 

What we also like about them is their experience in working with clients across the full spectrum of sectors as they’ve worked with fast-growing businesses, multinational companies, start-ups and private individuals. 

When it comes to providing solutions, we like that they offer great communication and have commercial awareness of their clients’ challenges and objectives, and this allows them to come up with efficient and straight-forward advice. 

In the area of employment, they have experience on concerns such as grievance and disciplinary procedures, negotiating severance packages, Contracts of Employment and Policies and Procedures, industrial relations matters before the Labour Court, and Employment Injunction cases before the High Court.

Given these, we have the confidence to recommend them for your legal concerns regarding employment.

10. Maurice Leahy, Wade & Company, Solicitors

The goal of Maurice Leahy, Wade & Company, Solicitors is to be client-centered and professional, as well as to provide cost-effective advice to their clients.

What we find notable about them is the wide range of practice areas they cover despite only having seven members in their team. Their services include employment law, family law, personal injury, medical negligence, property, landlord & tenant, litigation, wills/enduring powers of attorney, probate & admin of estates, insolvency, mediation, and professional negligence.

What’s great about the team is that they keep their clients updated throughout the entire process and don’t leave them hanging. We’ve asked around as well, and we found that no matter what case they’re dealing with, they display professionalism and breadth of knowledge.

We also like the efficiency they display when handling cases. They don’t beat around the bush and always get straight to the point. When it comes to communicating with their clients, they reply promptly.

So, if you’re looking for a firm to assist you with your employment case, we recommend looking into Maurice Leahy, Wade & Company, Solicitors.

FAQs about Employment Lawyers in Dublin

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We hope our answers and picks help you find a resolution to your workplace issue.

If you know of more trusted employment lawyers in Dublin you want to add to our list, feel free to reach out to us. We’re always happy to get recommendations.

For those dealing with an issue involving financial matters, perhaps a financial advisor can also help you. We have a list of the best financial advisors in Dublin.

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