Harry Fehily - Partner

Harry Fehily is the Managing Partner and practices in the Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department.  

Having joined the firm in 1986, he has extensive experience of advising clients across a range of contentious and non-contentious matters with an emphasis on commercial litigation, public administrative law as it relates to state bodies, disputes and investigations concerning public bodies, judicial review, employment law disputes particularly as they impact on the board and chief executives of companies, contentious issues as they impact on environmental law, planning law and health and safety law. He also has experience in advising companies and directors in environmental health and safety prosecutions, planning injunctions and other regulatory enforcement actions. As can be seen from Harry’s experience, detail below, he has dealt with a number of recent high profile contentious disputes concerning public and private bodies.   He has considerable experience in guiding bodies through the difficult issues that arise in resolution of disputes.  Harry has acted for companies, creditors and insolvency practitioners and engages with the Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency Group.

 

 Details of previous or relevant work

 General Advisory, Corporate Governance and Litigation

  • Advice to Bord na gCon in respect of the Dalton enquiry and Dalton report;
  • Conducted a number of investigations and produced reports pursuant to a statutory framework for the purposes of reporting to the Board of a State company;
  • Represented the control committee of State companies in their investigative and disciplinary role;
  • Represented State boards in hearings of the appeals committee where the Board has refused to grant trainers licences and the public sale of a greyhound licence;
  • Advised the Board and CEO of a commercial State company in the contentious sale of a state company asset;
  • Ongoing advices to commercial State company in connection with corporate governance issues;
  • Advises the boards of directors of large private companies on company law and other corporate governance and compliance issues on an ongoing basis including in particular recent and ongoing advice in respect of environment prosecutions instituted against that Company and dealing with ongoing planning issues on behalf of that Company, a large pharmaceutical company;
  • Advice in respect of and defending Section 205 proceedings (minority oppression) in the Commercial Court and defending injunctive proceedings in respect of the removal/appointments of directors;
  • Acted for commercial semi-state body in respect of judicial review proceedings against it arising out of the award of a public contract;
  • Advice to a Government Authority in respect of corporate governance issues and confidentiality/disclosures requirements under a statutory framework;
  • Acted for a Commercial State Company arising from alleged defamatory statement in the Chairman’s report published on the website of the Shannon Foynes Port Authority;
    • Successfully acted for the a Commercial State Company in its contentious dispute with its CEO and another director of the Board;
  • Currently advising a State owned company on the conduct of an internal non- statutory investigation;
  • Recently advised a commercial association on interpretation of its constitutional rules;
  • Recently reviewed and updated rules of prominent sports clubs;
  • Advised statutory body on internal investigation into irregularities at its premises and reporting to and advising the state body on its responsibility under the relevant statute and its duties to the Controller and Auditor General;
  • Prepared report on behalf of Board of public body for presentation to the relevant Minister in relation to a contentious issue.  
  • Advices to a Government Authority regarding regulatory prosecutions;
  • Advises to regulatory bodies on investigations, due process and fair procedures;
    • Currently advising a Statutory Committee on a Judicial Review.
    • Successfully brought injunction against the Minister and the Health Service Executive (HSE) on behalf of a pharmacy arising out of the breach/impending breach of its contract with the HSE.
    • Currently advising company directors on intercompany dispute with issues concerning a derivative action and S205 and S213 of the Companies Act. 

 Health and Safety

  • At the request of the Health and Safety Authority represented the Health and Safety Authority in respect of a tragic death;
  • Represented large construction company in respect of prosecutions against the company arising from health and safety matters including indictable prosecutions following fatalities on their construction sites;
  • Represented a pharmaceutical company in respect of health and safety prosecutions brought by the Health and Safety Authority and environmental prosecutions brought  by the Environmental Protection Agency arising from breach/alleged breaches at its plant.
  • Advised construction companies in the Mid-West Region in respect of Health and Safety regulations.

 Employment

  • Advice to semi-state board in dealing with the consequences of the Board’s summary dismissal of its CEO;
  • Advised semi-state board in connection with an action brought by an existing board member to prevent the board implementing a stated board policy;
  • Advice to boards of large private companies in respect of contentious employment matters;
  • Advised Board of commercial State company in its contentious dispute with its CEO resulting in a settlement of the dispute.
  • Successfully obtained an injunction against SIPTU (trade union) arising out of unlawful picket of client’s premises.

 Professional Activities:

  • Vice President,  Limerick Chamber of Commerce
  • Member of Limerick City Business Association
  • Member of International Lawyer's Network
  • Member of Atlantic Way
  • Founding Member of Irish Society of Insolvency Practitioners

 Education:

  • N.U.I. Galway, BA
  • Admitted to the Law Society of Ireland.
  • Awarded Certificate in Judicial Review from the Law Society of Ireland.

 Contact Harry Fehily:
 T: +353 61 313222
 F: +353 61 310414
 E: harry.fehily@homs.ie

 Back to partners

 
Holmes O'Malley Sexton, Bishopsgate, Henry Street, Limerick, P.O. Box 146.
T: +353 (0)61 313222 | F: +353 (0)61 310414 | E: info@homs.ie