Ciara O'Kennedy is a Partner in the Byrne Wallace Shields LLP Employment Law Team.

Ciara advises on both contentious and non-contentious employment issues, with significant experience in resolving complex disputes involving the removal of senior executives and employee shareholders, to include providing strategic advice on managing the commercial, legal and reputational risks of implementing senior executive terminations, negotiating and drafting severance packages.

Ciara advises on all legal issues arising out of the employment relationship from recruitment to termination, to include preparing employment contracts, advising on TUPE issues, disciplinary matters, unfair dismissals and employment injunctions, together with partnering with clients to provide tailored training workshops and assisting with the implementation and roll out of employment policies. Ciara is a regular speaker at employment events and contributes articles to various publications on employment law issues.

Experience

• Advising clients dealing with complaints of bullying and harassment and advising on workplace stress claims.
  
• Providing assistance to a diverse portfolio of corporate clients in relation to reorganisations and restructurings, resulting redundancies and TUPE related queries.
  
• Representing clients before the Workplace Relations Commission, including defending unfair dismissals, constructive dismissals, discrimination claims, whistleblowing and penalisation claims, workplace bullying and stress-related claims,
  
• Advising employers on the rules governing leave arrangements, maternity, recruitment and equality issues, social media issues and remote working requests.
  
• Preparing and updating employee handbooks, HR policies and practices for clients, reviewing and amending employment contracts and policies for international clients for use in Ireland.
  
• Operating a helpdesk advice service to a leading multinational luxury goods company on a wide range of employment queries.
  
• Advising a leading car manufacturer on the enforcement of restrictive covenants in an employment contract in the context of a “team move”.
  
• Advised a large multi-national on an intellectual property related dispute in the High Court and associated defamation claims.
  
• Advising leading Irish food manufacturer in relation to commercial agency claims. 
  

Memberships

• Current Chair of Dublin Solicitors Bar Association (DSBA) Employment Committee and DSBA Council member 
  
• Member of the Employment Law Association of Ireland
  
• Member of the European Employment Lawyers Association (EELA)     

Qualifications

• Admitted as a Solicitor in Ireland, Law Society of Ireland, 2003 
  
• Diploma in E-Commerce, Law Society of Ireland, 2002
  
• BA (Hons) Law & European Studies, University College Limerick & Universite De Pau, France, 1998
  

Recommendations

• Ciara O ’Kennedy – expert in her field of employment law. Friendly yet highly professional. She covers all the details of the query presented. Articulate speaker at conferences and seminars. Always rely on her legal advice as her professional knowledge of Irish employment law is outstanding.’ Recommended for Employment. - Legal 500 2024
  
• “Ciara has an exceptional ability to understand an issue and her client's intentions, and excellent interpersonal skills to push them along the right path to a successful conclusion.” Recommended for Employment. - Chambers Europe 2024
  
• “Ciara has a good command of the services we need and is well versed in matters. The quality of her work is solid and timely.” Recommended for Employment. - Chambers Europe 2024
  
• '... professional, very practical and always focuses on resolving a problem with minimum fuss.’ Recommended for Employment. - Legal 500 2023
  
• "Ciara is extremely approachable and supportive and has a great understanding of business needs." Recommended for Employment. - Chambers Europe 2023
  
• ‘Ciara O’Kennedy – very responsive and an excellent negotiator.’ Recommended for Employment. - Legal 500 2022
  
• "Ciara is excellent at what she does, she has a great understanding of our business and how we operate, she will do her best to advise on how to approach very tricky situations and is quick to find the best solution for our business. She is easy to deal with and very approachable, there is no such thing as a silly question with Ciara, which is always appreciated." - Legal 500 2021
  
• 'Ciara O’Kennedy and associate Muireann Granville were very knowledgeable and pleasant at all times. They provided excellent research and understanding at all stages of the process and were very supportive.' Recommended for Dispute Resolution. - Legal 500 2020
  
• "Ciara O’Kennedy is incredibly responsive and provides advice on interpretation of the law which is very useful and practical when operating a commercial business; she does not just recite the law." - Legal 500 2021
  
• Recommended for Employment. - Legal 500 2021
  
• Recommended for Employment. - Legal 500 2020
  
• Hardworking, knowledgeable and pleasant' Ciara O’Kennedy is recommended for Dispute Resolution. - Legal 500 2019
  
• Recommended for Dispute Resolution. - Legal 500 2018