International law firm Bird & Bird is to add two partners to its Irish office in the coming months, in a move that it says exceeds its initial growth target for the office.

The addition of IP and data litigator Ann Henry and corporate specialist Brendan O’Brien will see the firm’s Irish office expand to five partners.

The new partners will join existing partners Deirdre Kilroy, Anna Morgan, and Michael Finn, as well as a growing team of associates and business-services staff.

Law Society committee

Bird & Bird describes Ann Henry as “one of the leading IP and data litigators in Ireland”, pointing to her experience in representing international companies in pan-European litigation, particularly in the areas of patent litigation and data-privacy disputes.

Henry is one of the co-founders of the IP and Data Protection Committee in the Law Society of Ireland.

O’Brien has almost 20 years of experience advising international companies and investors on a broad range of corporate-law matters – including private-company mergers and acquisitions (M&A), equity fund-raisings, joint ventures, shareholder arrangements, and corporate re-organisations and refinancings.

Corporate practice

Bird & Bird says that O’Brien will establish and lead the firm’s corporate practice in Ireland, as well as advise and support the firm's local and international corporate clients seeking to invest in and through Ireland.

Christian Bartsch (Bird & Bird CEO) said that the firm was “thrilled” to exceed its growth target after year one.

“The depth of Ann’s expertise in IP, tech and data litigation, alongside Brendan’s experience advising clients on a wide range of corporate matters, will ensure that we remain the go-to law firm for our clients on some of the most important and complex issues in the international data litigation, intellectual-property, corporate, and technology-and-communications sectors,” he added.