Gillian Dully is a Consultant in the Byrne Wallace Shields LLP Employment Law Team.

Gillian has considerable experience in advising Irish and international clients on a broad range of employment, pensions and employee benefits matters. Gillian advises on corporate governance, regulatory and shareholder issues arising from the establishment and operation of share plans and incentive plans. 

Gillian’s employee benefits work also involves advising employers in relation to Revenue approved schemes and unapproved schemes to include share option schemes, long term incentive plans, clogged schemes and phantom share option schemes.   

Gillian has extensive experience in the structuring of share incentive schemes and the treatment of share options and other employee benefits in mergers and acquisitions.  She has worked on the employee benefits and pensions aspects of many high-profile commercial transactions. 

Gillian also has considerable experience in advising on pensions law with a particular emphasis on pensions issues arising in the context of corporate transactions including acquisitions and disposals and other commercial transactions. Gillian also advises on various pension matters including advising on the establishment and amendment of pension schemes, compliance with pensions legislation and Revenue practice and drafts and amends relevant scheme documentation.  

Gillian also has considerable experience advising clients on a wide range of corporate and commercial matters. 

Gillian is a member of the Council of the Irish Pro Share Association of Ireland and a former member of the Council of the Association of Pension Lawyers in Ireland.

Experience

• Advising on the design, establishment, implementation and operation of share incentive plans.
  
• Drafting scheme documentation governing newly established incentive arrangements taking into account the company’s structure, business environment, future commercial goals and categories of employees.
  
• Advising on existing incentive schemes and the amendment and restructuring of such arrangements to deal with matters arising during the lifecycle of the schemes such as early leavers and re-organisations.
  
• Advising on corporate governance and administrative aspects of share incentive schemes.
  
• Advising on the treatment of share options and other employee benefits in takeovers, mergers and acquisitions.
  
• Advising on pensions and share plan aspects of many high-profile acquisitions and disposals and other commercial transactions.
  
• Advising trustees and employers in relation to their duties and responsibilities under pension scheme documentation, pension legislation and trust law generally.
  
• Advising on the establishment and operation of pension schemes, the amendment of existing schemes and drafting related pension scheme documentation.
  
• Advising on some of the most economically valuable incentive arrangements operated by employers in Ireland.
  
• Advising a leading multinational specialising in logistics and distribution in relation to an existing long term incentive plan and the establishment of new long term incentive arrangements for senior executives.
  
• Advising a large Irish private healthcare group operating hospitals, clinics and care homes in relation to the introduction and roll out of long term incentive plans.
  
• Advising private equity investee companies on management incentive schemes.
  
• Advising a large motor group on the pension aspects of recent corporate acquisition transactions.
  
• Advising a leading US multinational on all Irish pension and employee benefits aspects of the sale of assets of its Irish subsidiary.
  
• Advising a multinational retailer on the winding up of its defined benefit pension schemes.
  
• Advising a large media organisation on the winding up of its pension arrangements and the entry into a new master trust.
  
• Advising on a wide range of corporate transactions including M&A transactions.
• Advising on a wide range of commercial law matters. 
  
• Advising on shareholder arrangements to include drafting, reviewing and amending shareholder and subscription agreements and ancillary documentation.
  
• Advising domestic and international clients on issues arising in the sale and purchase of a business including drafting, reviewing and negotiating share purchase agreements and asset purchase agreements.
• Advising leading software provider on various acquisitions.
  
• Advising private equity fund on an intra-group re-organisation.
  
• Advising private company on a significant funding round by an international investment firm.
  

Qualifications

• Diploma in Employment Law, University College Dublin 2004
  
• Admitted as a solicitor in Ireland, Law Society of Ireland, 2003
  
• LL.B., University of Cardiff, 1996
  

Recommendations

• Recommended for Pensions & Employee Benefits. - Legal 500 2020
  
• Recommended for Pensions & Employee Benefits. - Legal 500 2019