Clíodhna Buckley, BL

This Practice Note deals with matters to consider when instructing counsel to undertake the advocacy at trial, including the factors you should take into account and what you need to include in the brief to counsel.

This Practice Note considers the current legal framework for consumer contracts and consumer rights in Ireland. It carries out an analysis of sale, service, and digital contracts, highlighting important provisions pertaining to consumer contracts within the Consumer Rights Act 2022 (Ireland) (CRA 2022 (IRL)).

This Practice Note considers what is a fatal injury action, in what circumstances such an action may arise, who is eligible to bring a claim and the different types of damages which may be recoverable. It examines Part IV of the Civil Liability Act 1961 (Ireland) which governs the law in this area in relation to fatal injuries.

This Practice Note provides guidance on what a default judgment is (also referred to as judgment in default, judgment in default of appearance and judgment in default of defence) and the conditions that must be satisfied before a court can enter default judgment. It considers the procedure for obtaining a default judgment. It also provides guidance on unless orders, the circumstances in which the court must set aside a default judgment and the provisions that apply when seeking to enforce a default judgment.

This Practice Note considers the different types of grounds for judicial review, focusing primarily on the following grounds of review: legitimate expectation, irrationality (including unreasonableness or disproportionality), procedural impropriety and illegality.

This Practice Note considers what settlement is, when and why you should attempt to settle disputes, who should be involved in attempts to settle a dispute and the consequences for not attempting to reach settlement. It broadly outlines some methods of settling disputes such as, lodgment of money in court and tenders, Calderbank offers, settling at a mediation and settling in arbitration. It also considers how to draft a settlement agreement and when settlement agreements can be set aside.

This Practice Note considers the factors involved in settling a claim at a mediation as distinct from other times that settlement may be achieved. It considers what is mediation, who should attend a mediation and what occurs before, during and after a mediation. It also looks at the legal framework for mediation in Ireland and the key provisions of the Mediation Act 2017 (Ireland).

This Practice Note examines termination for breach of contract. It considers what a breach of contract is and key considerations before terminating a contract for a breach. It considers breach due to frustration or force majeure and it explains what a repudiatory and anticipatory breach of contract is. Finally, it looks at the termination process and dispute resolution obligations.

This Practice Note considers unfair terms which may arise in consumer contracts and refers to several key provisions in the Consumer Rights Act 2022 (Ireland) (CRA 2022 (IRL)) which relate to unfair terms. It examines what an unfair term is, which terms are presumed to be unfair and which terms are always considered to be unfair terms under CRA 2022 (IRL). It looks at how to determine whether a consumer contract term is transparent and how to interpret the fairness of terms in consumer contracts. It also examines the role of the court under the CRA 2022 (IRL).

This is a Precedent arbitration clause for future disputes, which can be used for international and domestic arbitrations and includes optional language for ad hoc or institutional arbitration. If ad hoc arbitration is chosen, the clause includes language for both a sole arbitrator tribunal and a three arbitrator panel and alternative methods for the selection of arbitrators. The clause also includes optional language, either in the clause or in drafting notes, regarding the seat of the arbitration, the law of the arbitration agreement, the language of the proceedings, and the finality of the award. This Precedent may be referred to as an arbitration agreement for inclusion in a contract or agreement. An arbitration clause may also be referred to as a template or model clause.

This Precedent and drafting notes provide a starting point for preparing instructions to counsel for the purpose of obtaining advice from counsel, asking counsel to draft or approve pleadings, or appear at a hearing or the trial to represent the client. It will need to be tailored appropriately to fit the circumstances of the individual case. The instructions to counsel will be drafted by and submitted to counsel by the client’s instructing solicitors.