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Expertise

Aisling Kavanagh is a partner in Matheson’s Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution team. Aisling is a commercial litigator specialising in insurance disputes.

Aisling manages high value, large scale complex disputes, and has acted in high-profile litigation in both the English and Irish Courts. Before joining Matheson, Aisling spent over six years as a litigator with a leading firm in London, where she acted in energy, construction and insurance disputes. Her practice includes insurance disputes, commercial and financial services dispute resolution, and arbitration. As regards her insurance disputes work, Aisling advises domestic and international clients on policy wording interpretation, complex coverage disputes, D&O claims, professional indemnity claims, including any potential third party liability, and subrogation claims. Aisling has extensive experience with alternative dispute resolution processes. She has advised in complex mediations and arbitrations, including under ICC and LCIA arbitration rules, and she has advised as regards disputes before the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman.

Aisling also provides non-contentious advice to insurers and brokers on the drafting and interpretation of insurance contracts including drafting bespoke policy wordings. She regularly provides policy analysis, including "gap" analysis as regards cover, for domestic and international companies, directors and senior executives. 

Aisling is a member of the Law Society of Ireland, the Insurance Institute of Ireland and the British Insurance Law Association. She is a lecturer on the Law Society Diploma of Insurance Law, has presented in seminars and has contributed to a number of industry publications.

Experience Highlights
  • Acting for a number of lessors in relation to detention of aircraft in Russia, in particular as regards insurance claims.
  • Representing a number of leading insurers with respect to COVID-19 business interruption test cases, in particular acting for an international insurer who was successful in one of Ireland’s first COVID-19 business interruption test cases before the Commercial Court;
  • Drafting endorsements, amendments and policy wordings for multiple insurers (including life insurers) following implementation of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019;
  • Acting in a successful motion to stay Commercial Court proceedings for arbitration where the other party was arguing that the dispute was non-arbitrable on public policy grounds;
  • Advising clients in respect of a highly-technical insurance coverage dispute, proceeding to LCIA arbitration;
  • Acting in the successful preliminary issue hearing of the Madoff litigation before the Irish High Court, valued at €141 million;
  • Providing detailed “gap analysis” policy review advice to a London based trade association regarding their full suite of liability policies;
  • Acting in an LCIA London based arbitration claim for over USD400 million acting for contractor claimant;
  • Representing a contractor client in a mediation regarding two offshore projects, with total value of disputes over USD600 million;
  • Acting for Mortgagees Interest Insurers in English High Court litigation in relation to the loss of a vessel following an alleged piracy attack, with a total claim value over $70 million.
Education

Trinity College Dublin (LLB)

Legal Practise Course, BPP Law School

Qualified as a solicitor in Ireland

Qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales