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Nicola Dunleavy is "not only a skilled lawyer but also has strong emotional intelligence".

Chambers Global and Europe 

Expertise

Nicola Dunleavy is a partner in Matheson’s Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department, with a broad commercial litigation, investigations and arbitration practice. In 2021 she was appointed by the Irish Government as a Senior Counsel. Nicola is represents clients in complex, multi-jurisdictional commercial disputes, including arising from mergers and acquisitions and EU law, and in constitutional litigation.  Sectors include technology and telecommunications, pharmaceutical, chemicals, food and drink, waste, water, energy, mining, and transport.  Nicola represents clients in investigations by the EU Commission, ComReg, and other regulators and in defending criminal prosecutions.  Nicola has very significant experience in major development, energy and real estate disputes, including planning environmental and safety judicial review and disputes.

Nicola served as a member of the Court of the London Court of International Arbitration until 2024 and is a former President of Arbitration Ireland. Nicola is an advocate in alternative dispute resolution, such as expert determination, adjudication and mediation. Nicola is a Chartered Tax Advisor and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Experience Highlights

Representative matters include:

  • In technology and digital economy disputes, representing platforms and software developers in a range of Irish Court proceedings and in arbitration.
  • In climate change litigation - including ESG and permitting litigation - leading the representation of developers of renewable and conventional energy, data centres, housing and transport projects, including referrals to the CJEU.
  • Representing truck manufacturers in Competition Court follow-on damages claims stemming from the European Commission's settlement decision, a high profile competition infringement matter in Europe.
  • Representing taxpayers in disputes with the Revenue Commissioners and with the State, in the Tax Appeals Commission and in Irish and European Courts.
  • Representing buyers and sellers in post-acquisition warranty and indemnity disputes in ICC and LCIA arbitration and in actions for enforcement of arbitral awards.
  • Acting for Royalty Pharma in take-over litigation related to its $6.5 billion bid for Elan.
  • Defending regulatory investigations and criminal prosecutions for alleged data, regulatory (pricing, tax), safety and environmental offences.
  • Advising Macquarie Asset Management in relation to its agreement to acquire the Beacon Hospital in Dublin, subject to customary regulatory approvals.
    Accolades
    "Nicola Dunleavy and her team provide a superb service. Nicola and her team become experts on every diverse area we deal with them on, and we know we are getting the best of advice and service every time."
    Public Sector: The European Legal 500 2025

    "Nicola Dunleavy is an exceptional lawyer."
    Planning and Environment: The European Legal 500 2025

    "What makes Nicola Dunleavy and her team unique is their knowledge and expertise in the planning and environment sector."
    Planning and Environment: The European Legal 500 2025

    "When working with Nicola Dunleavy and her team, you are always certain that they will keep you informed and updated on changing laws affecting the practice area. When you give instructions on a matter you receive a reply setting out both timelines and pricing, always followed by a call"
    Planning and Environment: The European Legal 500 2025

    "She is very reassuring and calm when advising, as well as adaptable in framing advice within a commercial context."
    Dispute Resolution Chambers Global 2025

    "She is highly skilled with demonstrable commercial awareness and capabilities."
    Dispute Resolution Chambers Global 2025

    "Nicola Dunleavy is brilliant."
    Dispute Resolution Chambers Global 2025

    "Nicola is able to very decisively and accurately strike at the root of a problem and find a solution quickly."
    Dispute Resolution Chambers Global 2025

    “Nicola Dunleavy, Senior Partner, is extremely competent and I have personally worked with her since 2016 and always received the best support, although team members reporting to her have done much of the ground works the last years. However, as soon as presence in customer negotiation meetings are needed, she has always been present in person.”
    Dispute Resolution: The European Legal 500 2024

    "Nicola Dunleavy has exceptional ability, diligence and integrity."
    White Collar Crime: The European Legal 500 2024

    "Nicola Dunleavy SC has powerful knowledge and understanding and a great ability for objective analysis and advice."
    Planning & Environment: The European Legal 500 2024

    "Nicola Dunleavy SC is an impressive and very knowledgeable team leader and a skilled communicator."
    Planning & Environment: The European Legal 500 2024

    "Nicola Dunleavy SC is a tenacious lawyer with a commitment to excellence."
    Planning & Environment: The European Legal 500 2024

    "Nicola Dunleavy SC is an expert in this field. She is always available and will resolve an issue. She approaches a matter from the outset by setting out timelines to meet expectations. She keeps you informed of recent case law."
    Planning & Environment: The European Legal 500 2024

    “Nicola Dunleavy is an intellectual heavyweight who ensures clients are comfortable while fighting in your corner.”
    Environment: Chambers Europe 2024

    "Nicola Dunleavy is very impressive. She is a very good operator."
    Dispute Resolution: Chambers Global 2024

    "She has a high sense of service and a lot of experience."
    Dispute Resolution: Chambers Global 2024

    "Nicola Dunleavy SC runs an outstanding team at Matheson and is fully engaged in all cases. Her knowledge and understanding of planning and environmental law are exceptional. She is very much focused on solutions and advising the client on what it needs to do to secure planning permission/environmental consent."
    Planning and Environment: The European Legal 500 2023

    "Nicola Dunleavy SC is the best in the business. Knowledgeable and practical and works tirelessly for her clients and her team"
    Planning and Environment: The European Legal 500 2023

    "Nicola Dunleavy is exceptional, really brilliant, has a good depth of experience and can put herself in her client's shoes."
    Dispute Resolution: Chambers Global 2023

    "She is very polished and exudes confidence in her approach with clients."
    Dispute Resolution: Chambers Global 2023

    "Nicola Dunleavy is probably the leader in the field in this jurisdiction. She is an excellent lawyer with brilliant judgement and is wholly committed to delivering for her clients."
    Planning & Environment:  The European Legal 500 2022

    “Nicola Dunleavy is an exceptional lawyer in this area.”
    Dispute Resolution: The European Legal 500 2022

    Nicola Dunleavy’s “expertise in the field stands out," and "she is highly responsive."
    Dispute Resolution: Chambers Global 2022

    "Nicola Dunleavy has assisted our company over an extended period of time and can be relied upon to always provide practical and forthright advice notwithstanding the difficult nature of matters requiring attention".
    Dispute Resolution:  The European Legal 500 2021

    "Nicola Dunleavy is an outstanding litigator. She has a deep understanding of the litigation process and how issues might play out. She is able to deliver quality strategic advice and add value in all interactions".
    Dispute Resolution:  The European Legal 500 2021

    "Nicola Dunleavy "is fantastic to deal with. Nicola really got to know and understand our business, she provides professional well thought out advice and also works through the advice as part of the broader team and understands the complex business we operate. Nicola is a superb professional advisor, with good business acumen, who deploys a common sense approach to problems".
    Dispute Resolution: The European Legal 500 2021

    "When she speaks she has a level of gravitas; you can just sense that she has been there before and knows exactly what she's talking about".
    Dispute Resolution: Chambers Global 2021

    Nicola Dunleavy "is personable, responsive and commercial".
    Dispute Resolution: Chambers Global 2021

    Nicola Dunleavy has been recognised by The Legal 500 as an elite leading lawyer.
    Planning & Environment: The Legal 500 Hall of Fame 2020

    Education

    Trinity College Dublin (LLB)

    Qualified as a solicitor in Ireland

    Chartered Tax Advisor, Irish Taxation Institute

    European University Institute, Florence, Italy (Masters in European, International and Comparative Law LLM)

    Major Infrastructure Commitments in Ireland’s Programme for Government

    Sep 8, 2020, 21:27 PM
    Yesterday, Ireland’s prospective new government published a Programme for Government (“PfG”) containing some policy commitments which will be of significant interest to private sector investors, sponsors, suppliers, operators and contractors in the Irish projects, energy and infrastructure sectors.
    Title : Major Infrastructure Commitments in Ireland’s Programme for Government
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    Insight Type : Article
    Insight Date : Jun 16, 2020, 12:10 PM
    Yesterday, Ireland’s prospective new government published a Programme for Government (“PfG”) containing some policy commitments which will be of significant interest to private sector investors, sponsors, suppliers, operators and contractors in the Irish projects, energy and infrastructure sectors.

    We have outlined below some of the key PfG highlights for stakeholders interested in playing a part in the delivery of major infrastructure projects in Ireland.  The green agenda is clearly visible in this PfG and we are delighted to see that the prospective Government is committing to a policy of stimulus by investment in infrastructure, particularly projects that further sustainability priorities such as public transport and offshore wind.

    In our view, the PfG is an unprecedented shift towards the green agenda for Irish politics: this shift, which includes a commitment to an average 7% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year, will affect the private sector in different ways.  Many of the more constructive developments will stimulate Ireland’s economy, while certain of the initiatives such as a comprehensive carbon taxation regime and disincentives for stakeholders involved in fossil fuel businesses will bring significant challenges.

    As always, do get in touch with us (or your usual Matheson contact) if it would be helpful to discuss these projects or initiatives in more detail.

    General

    • Spending Plans: National Development Plan (2018 – 2027 infrastructure spending plans) review to be undertaken before 2022 to include detailed plans up to 2031 to reflect PfG commitments.  New projects and initiatives will augment the strong existing project pipeline included in Project Ireland 2040.
    • Planning Reform: Major planning reforms to see judicial review reform and the establishment of an Environmental and Planning Law Court occurring simultaneously, together with the long-overdue implementation of reform to the Compulsory Purchase Order regime.

    Infrastructure

    • Economic Stimulus: Infrastructure development to function as economic stimulus, with a post-COVID Recovery Fund (which we understand will be distinct from existing funding commitments) to be available for investment in infrastructure capital investment projects such as social housing and public transport.
    • Public Transport Commitments: Commitment to delivering Metrolink (high capacity metro light rail), new Luas (urban tram) developments, DART Expansion (heavy rail electrification, rolling stock and an interconnector tunnel under central Dublin), Bus Connects (redesigned bus networks and infrastructure) in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick and national integrated ticketing. For the first time, the prospective Government is proposing to adhere to a 2:1 ratio of expenditure between new public transport infrastructure and new roads.
    • Heavy Rail Focus: Investment in heavy rail to be prioritised through fleet expansion, electrification and the commissioning of economic evaluations of higher speed services between major cities.
    • Housing: Over 50,000 social housing units to be delivered over the next 5 years by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies and State agencies, with reforms to facilitate access to finance for Approved Housing Bodies and local authority discretionary social housing funding to increase from €2m to €6m. The Land Development Agency will have its mandate, powers and responsibilities expanded.
    • EVs, Ports, Water and Telecoms: Development of electric vehicle (EV) charging networks and EV take-up to be incentivised by nationwide strategy, port expansion (particularly rail-connected ports) to receive specific supports, €8.5 billion of capital investment in water infrastructure up to 2040 to be ringfenced and the National Broadband Plan rollout to be accelerated.

    Energy

    • Offshore Wind: We are delighted to see very strong support for offshore wind, with policy targets to include 5GW of offshore wind off the Eastern and Southern coasts by 2030 and an assessment of the potential for 30GW of floating Atlantic offshore wind, coupled with commitments to hold the first offshore wind auction in 2021 and the enactment of the Marine Planning and Development Bill within 9 months (presumably from Government formation).
    • Onshore Wind, Solar and Other Renewables: The first Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) auction to be held by end-2020 with further auctions taking place annually, long-delayed Wind Energy Development Guidelines to be finalised, solar strategy for both rooftop and ground-mounted PV to be developed and policy to support the use of other viable renewable electricity generation technologies (including a promising commitment to assess the potential of innovative technologies such as green hydrogen) to deliver upon a pledge to reduce Ireland’s GHG emissions by 51% up to 2030 (ie, about 7% per year).  The development of micro-generation (to allow excess generation to be sold to the grid) will also be prioritised (by June 2021) in a further positive development.
    • Interconnection and Grid: Celtic Interconnector (Ireland – France electricity interconnection) to be progressed, further interconnection potential to be studied and EirGrid’s DS3 system services programme (grid services to be provided by various means including Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)) to be continued and supported.
    • Retrofitting, District Heating and CHP: Homes to be grouped into large clusters for nationwide retrofitting programme leveraging innovative (‘smart’) finance models for the delivery of retrofitting projects (with homes grouped by region for efficiency (and perhaps marketability) purposes), district heating pilots to lead to a nationwide programme (with the potential establishment of a national district heating authority) and Combined Heat and Power developments to receive tailored supports.

    Key authors of this article: Garret FarrellyNicola DunleavyLeonie DunneRhona HenryKate McKenna and Conor Blennerhassett.

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