Our People

Expertise

Sharon is a partner and head of the Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department at Matheson Ormsby Prentice. She is also chair of the Insurance Law Group. The Group practices in all areas of insurance and reinsurance law providing advice on policy wordings and coverage. The group mediates, litigates and arbitrates coverage disputes and direct and subrogation claims on behalf of our insurance clients. Sharon has extensive experience on financial lines policies including E&O, D&O and Bankers' blanket bond policies.

Sharon's practice by its nature involves large scale disputes for insurance companies or their insured, many of whom are large financial institutions. These disputes are litigated in the Commercial Court and many are being resolved through mediation. Sharon is a strong advocate of alternative dispute resolution, which provides the means to resolve disputes in a cost effective, time efficient, confidential and creative manner.

Given the regulated nature of insurance, Sharon and her group provide crisis management advice for clients dealing with investigations and enquiries from the Financial Regulator, the ODCE and the Gardaí. Sharon has handled numerous administrative sanctions cases for financial institutions.

On the non-contentious side, Sharon has been involved in numerous portfolio transfers arising from reorganisations and/or mergers and acquisitions, and advises on policy wordings. Insurance clients include Marsh Ireland, Chubb SA, AIG, ACE, GE, AXA, Lloyds underwriters including Catlin & Beazley and Novae.

In addition to Sharon's insurance practice, she is also an intellectual property practitioner, mainly in the area of entertainment law. Sharon has extensive experience in copyright disputes and represents IMRO, MCPS and BSKYB and has been involved in some of the most significant copyright cases before the Irish High Courts in the 1990s. Sharon represents FIFA and actively assists in the protection of FIFA's intellectual property rights in this jurisdiction. She also acts for a number of publishing companies and has extensive experience in the protection of authors and publishers rights.

Sharon is a member of the International Bar Association and is country chair for the litigation committee. She is a council member of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Copyright Association of Ireland and the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property. Sharon lectures in the Law Society on the Commercial Court and mediation and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.

Education

University College Dublin, Bachelor of Commerce

Highlights