Colin Monaghan

Partner, Mason Hayes & Curran LLP

Colin is a senior partner in our Dispute Resolution and Investigations team.

He specialises in commercial litigation with a particular emphasis on internal and regulatory investigations, technology disputes, financial services litigation, competition litigation, commercial property disputes, shareholder disputes, and negligence claims.

Colin is ranked as a Leading Partner in dispute resolution by Legal 500 - “extremely effective, knowledgeable, and intuitive in his thinking”, “great ability to process detail and form expert legal opinions quickly", “a very client-focused solicitor who is extremely responsive” - Legal 500 | 2021; "a calm and sensible litigator" - Legal 500 | 2022; “an astute and energetic advisor who will guide you to your goal in a commercial manner”, "a trusted advisor” - Legal 500 | 2023; and "expert knowledge with a down to earth approach. Provides insightful, pragmatic advice and is a pleasure to work with" - Legal 500 | 2024. Colin was also selected as the International Client Choice Awards winner for Litigation in Ireland for 2015. Established in 2005, Client Choice recognises those lawyers around the world that stand apart for the excellent client care they provide and the quality of their service.

Colin advises on all aspects of the litigation process and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in Ireland, including arbitration and mediation. He has extensive experience in dealing with multi-party disputes before the Commercial List of the High Court.

Colin has a particular expertise in technology litigation and public law regulatory disputes. Over the last number of years, Colin has been the lead partner in proceedings before the Irish and European courts in respect of data transfers from the EEA to the U.S. arising from the Schrems II decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union. This is the most important and high-profile piece of technology litigation in Europe to come before the courts in Ireland and Europe in recent years.

Colin is also particularly experienced in advising on data breach claims under the GDPR before the Irish courts and in acting in the defence of dawn raids by the European Commission.

Contributed to

1

Ireland—Choice of forum and governing law for international disputes

Practice Notes

IntroductionOne of the most important considerations to be mindful of when negotiating, drafting or amending a contract, either to establish a relationship or to govern the terms of a particular project or statement of work, is one that may not be immediately important to, or, hopefully, ever invoked by, the parties—the disputes resolution clause and governing law. In many jurisdictions, there is a historic tradition of empowering parties to choose for themselves where and how their disputes, should they occur, be resolved. These choices fall within the idea of freedom and capacity to contract and may generally be made without regard to the actual location of the parties (or their tangible ties) or where the activities concerned will occur.Selecting ‘where’ and ‘how’ is a crucial choice: the former refers to the forum where a dispute will be litigated, while the latter is which set of laws will be used to

Ireland - Dispute Resolution

Practice Area

Ireland - Dispute Resolution

Panel

Contributing Author

Qualified Year

2002

Experience

Arthur Cox LLP (2002 - 2018)

Membership

Law Society of Ireland
Dublin Solicitors Bar Association
Commercial Litigation Association of Ireland
International Bar Association

Qualifications

Diploma (2001)
LLM (1999)
LLB (1998)

Education

Law Society of Ireland, admitted as a solicitor (2002)
University College Dublin, Diploma, Financial Services Law (2001)
The London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, LL.M, Intellectual Property Law (1999)
Trinity College Dublin, LL.B (1998)

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