Aims and Objectives
Join your colleagues for an afternoon of updates on core areas of interest/concern in business law practice & procedure. This conference, presented by the Business Law Committee in collaboration with Law Society Professional Training, is aimed at solicitors practising in business and commercial law.

Topics to be covered include

• Company Law Update – Interim Measures introduced by the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions)(Covid-19) Act 2020:
  • General Meetings (including electronic meetings and AGM deadlines)
  • Dividends
  • Winding –up threshold
  • Creditors; meetings
  • Examiner’s Report
• Execution of Documents
  • Virtual execution (wet ink and e-signatures)
  • Witnessing
  • Company seals
  • Execution in counterpart
• Competition law enforcement in the Covid 19 era:
  • Proposed new competition law powers for the CCPC
  • Merger control & State aid update
  • Covid 19 and consumer protection enforcement
  • Brexit & the Ireland and Northern Ireland Protocol.
• Impact of Covid 19 on Contractual Obligations
  • Force Majeure clauses 
  • Rules of construction and invocation of Force Majeure for Covid 19
  • The doctrine of frustration and recent case law
  • Statutory frustration e.g. EU (Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements )
  • Regulations 2019
  • Material Adverse Change clauses 
• Distressed M&A – Buyer Considerations

Chairperson
Neil Keenan, Partner, Byrne Wallace, Dublin
Neil is a Partner and Head of the ByrneWallace Corporate team. With over twenty years’ experience as a corporate lawyer, Neil has advised on many significant and complex transactions including mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments, corporate re-organisations, examinerships and business rescues and turnarounds. He also advises on shareholder and joint venture agreements and commercial contracts such as franchise and distribution agreements. In addition Neil has advised extensively on company law and corporate governance and regularly advises on matters such as Directors’ duties and shareholder rights and disputes. Neil has a particular experience and interest in the renewable and alternative energy sectors and has also dealt with many transactions in the medical devices and MedTech sectors and acts for a number of technology companies. Prior to joining ByrneWallace in 2016 Neil was the Managing Partner of another corporate practice and previously practiced as a corporate partner in another large Dublin law firm. Neil regularly lectures in the Law Society including the Law Society's series of seminars during 2015 on the Companies Act, 2014. Neil has also authored a chapter in the Law Society's Business Law manual, and regularly contributes articles to national media and specialist publications such as Energy Ireland's renewable energy magazine. He is a regular speaker on company and commercial law related topics.

Speakers 
Justin McKenna, Partner, Mason Hayes Curran
Justin is a partner in Mason Hayes Curran Corporate team, specialising in corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions and private equity transactions. He has extensive experience in corporate transactions with particular emphasis on all aspects of offers for, or the acquisition or disposal of, interests in public companies and the regulation of such transactions, public offers of equity securities by Irish and foreign issuers, private equity transactions and investment and acquisition transactions involving management groups.

Suzanne Kearney, Professional Support Lawyer, Arthur Cox 
Suzanne is a professional support lawyer in the Corporate M&A Group at Arthur Cox. She is a technical expert with a particular focus on company law and corporate governance, and keeps colleagues and clients updated on relevant legal, regulatory and commercial developments. She also manages education programmes (internal and client), authors technical papers and news bulletins, provides counsel to colleagues, develops precedents and practice notes and maintains the internal knowledge bank. Suzanne has significant experience in the areas of public and private mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets and corporate re-organisations.

Philip Andrews, Partner, McCann Fitzgerald
Philip's practice is primarily in the areas of M&A, Corporate and Energy law. Philip has acted for both buyers and sellers in Mergers and Acquisitions transactions across all sectors as well as advising on private equity funding rounds, shareholders agreements, corporate restructurings and distressed asset sales.

Sean Nolan, Partner, Clark Hill Solicitors LLP
Sean Nolan is a partner in Clark Hill Solicitors LLP where he practices company and commercial law in the firm’s Dublin office .He is a co-author of Business Law in Ireland (2015 Ed) published by the Law Society and Oxford University Press and Buying and Selling a Business -Tax and Legal Issues published by the Irish institute of Tax .

Philip Daly, Partner, LK Shields
Philip's practice is primarily in the areas of M&A, Corporate, Energy and Finance law. He acts for a wide range of businesses with a particular number involved in the area of energy and natural resources. He advises a number of household names in the energy sector on all their legal, contractual and regulatory needs. In corporate matters, Philip has acted for both buyers and sellers in Mergers and Acquisitions transactions across all sectors as well as advising on private equity funding rounds, shareholders agreements and corporate restructurings. In commercial matters, he advises clients regularly on complex contractual issues including advising on procurement law. In finance matters, Philip has assisted many clients in raising project finance for large scale projects and also negotiated facility arrangements for a number of household names. Given his significant experience and focus on the energy sector, Philip is the lead partner in the firm’s successful Energy and Natural Resources Unit. He advises a number of household names in the energy sector on all their legal, contractual and regulatory needs.

IMPORTANT

• Your login information will be emailed to you 3 working days before the event. In this case, you must login and attend online in order to avail of the CPD hours on offer.
• This event will not be recorded, so if you miss the live streaming you cannot play back the event. 
• Solicitors may now complete the entire 2020 CPD requirement of 20 hours online. For more information see www.lawsociety.ie/CPDscheme See our website to view our Privacy Statement  
• View course  Brochure
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• If you have technical or other queries, contact a member of the team on: LSPT@lawsociety.ie 

*Law Society Finuas Skillnet members