Profile
Ian Lavelle is a partner in the Byrne Wallace Shields LLP Litigation and Dispute Resolution team.
Ian is a commercial litigator specialising in complex insurance and construction disputes.
He is accustomed to handling large-scale litigation in the higher courts of Ireland on behalf of domestic and international clients.
Ian also advises clients in mediation, adjudication and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. He is a strong advocate of these, often more business-friendly, means of resolving disputes.
Before returning to Ireland, Ian practised in London for almost a decade where he developed a deep understanding of the London insurance market.
Experience
- Leading a team of lawyers acting for a global aviation insurer in the Russian aircraft insurance litigation brought by various global aviation lessors. This high-profile litigation is the largest dispute ever to come before the Irish courts.
- Acting for an Irish quarry operator on instructions from a major international insurer in the defence of hundreds of High Court proceedings concerning pyrite defects in residential properties.
- Advising insurers on policy coverage, professional indemnity claims, D&O disputes, product and public liability and cyber claims.
- Acting in the prosecution and defence of construction claims including via adjudication.
- Advising on construction-bond claims.
- Acting on high-value shareholder disputes in the Commercial Court of Ireland.
- Advising on GDPR proceedings, including claims for non-material damage.
- Representing clients in investigations and inquiries before regulatory bodies.
Reported cases
- BOC Aviation (Ireland) Ltd and Others v Lloyd's Insurance Company S.A. and Others [2024] IEHC 162
- Avolon Aerospace [Hamilton] AOE 1 Limited & Ors -v- Lloyds Insurance Company SA & Ors, BOC Aviation Ireland Limited & Ors -v- Lloyds Insurance Company SA & Ors, Hermes Aircraft A1264 Limited & Ors -v- All Underwriting members of Syndicate 1969 at Lloyds for The Lloyds 2021 Year of Accounts & Ors, CDB Aviation Lease Finance DAC & Ors -v- Lloyds Insurance Company SA & Ors, SMBC Aviation Capital Limited & Ors -v- Lloyds Insurance Company SA & Ors [2025] IEHC 32
- Oviedo Limited v Companies Act 2014-2020 [2021] IEHC 473.
- Commercial Management (Investments) Limited v Mitchell Design & Construct Limited [2016] EWHC 76 (TCC)
- BDW Trading Limited v Integral Geotechnique (Wales) Limited [2018] EWHC 1915 (TCC)
Qualifications
- Admitted as a Solicitor in England and Wales (Non-Practising), Law Society of England and Wales, 2010
- Admitted as a Solicitor in Ireland, Law Society of Ireland, 2008
- Bachelor of Civil Law (International) Degree, University College Dublin, 2004
- Diploma in Construction Law, the Law Society of Ireland
- Diploma in Financial Regulation, City Colleges Ireland
- Diploma in Commercial Property Law, the Law Society of Ireland
Recommendations
- 'Ian Lavelle is an experienced construction litigator.’ Recommended for Construction. - Legal 500 2022
- Recommended for Insurance. - Legal 500 2021
- Recommended for Insurance. - Legal 500 2020
- Recommended for Insurance. - Legal 500 2019
