Our clients are looking for advisers with industry-specialist knowledge

ACTIVITY The strongest areas for the firm continue to be those where regulation, investment and risk intersect. Technology, financial services, energy, infrastructure, healthcare and corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have all remained consistently active. In turn, dispute resolution, advisory work and transactional activity continue to flow from all of these sectors. There was a particular uptick in corporate M&A and financing activity, particularly in the second half of the year, which is likely to be related to the improvement in investor sentiment that emerged after the initial US tariff shocks of Q1 started to ease, as trade deals were concluded. We remain responsive to those market movements by continuing to invest in subject-matter specialist advisors. Clients are looking for advisers with industry-specialist knowledge, who understand the commercial and regulatory context of their sector, can help shape decisions early, and are prepared to stand over that advice when it is challenged. IMPACT OF LEGISLATION The volume and pace of regulatory change has been one of the defining features of 2025. For many clients, the challenge is not any single piece of legislation; it is the weight of layers of obligations building up across multiple regimes at the same time. The convergence of technology with traditional industries is one of the clearest examples of that pressure in practice. Fintech clients are scaling rapidly, often across multiple jurisdictions, but into a regulatory environment that’s becoming more demanding. Healthcare is being reshaped by AI-driven diagnostics and wearables, but those innovations bring serious questions around how health data is governed and who is accountable when something goes wrong. At the same time, there’s also a significant global drive towards deregulation and regulatory simplification. In Europe this is fuelled by a recognition that overly burdensome regulations are threatening competitiveness, as highlighted by the Draghi report. Clients need to manage a landscape that is simultaneously tightening in some areas and loosening in others, and to identify the commercial opportunities that shift creates. Our role throughout all of this is to help clients scale while managing risk in parallel. FUTURE TRENDS Regulatory change will remain a central feature of the landscape. More Irish and EU regimes will apply in parallel, particularly in technology, financial services, healthcare and energy. The challenge for organisations will be managing how those obligations interact in practice and ensuring that decisions are robust from both a legal and commercial perspective. We also expect a sustained focus on technology and digital investment. Our Business & Legal Sentiment Survey found that over half of respondents identified technology and digital transformation as a top investment priority. That will drive demand for advice that combines regulatory understanding with practical delivery, rather than abstract theory. We have the same focus in the firm; we see investment in legal technology and infrastructure as a key enabler of both client service and talent strategy. William Carmody, Mason Hayes Curran Picture Conor McCabe Photography. We are continuing to invest in systems and tools that improve efficiency and collaboration, and help us to deliver practical, commercially-aligned advice. Geopolitical risk is now increasingly factored into business planning. Businesses are operating on the assumption that conditions can change, and they are looking for advisers who can support agile decision-making in that environment with clarity and confidence.

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