Simmons & Simmons is the next firm to launch in Dublin with the hire of a partner from independent firm Mason Hayes & Curran.
The Irish firm’s head of investment funds and financial regulation Fionan Breathnach will lead the new office, which is pending regulatory approval.
A source said a Dublin launch had been in the pipeline for a while but that it was “brought up the priority list” after the UK’s vote to leave the EU.
The office is intended to target the firm’s asset management clients, a sector that Simmons performs strongly in, before eventually becoming a full service firm.
Before Mason Hayes, Breathnach was an associate at Landwells and legal counsel to HSBC in Dublin.
It is not known who will join him in launching Simmons’ new office in the capital.
Simmons has launched a number of new ventures in recent years, including a five-partner office in Luxembourg in 2014. In 2013 it opened in Munich, marking the firm’s third base in Germany, as well in Singapore, in what was the firm’s first office in South East Asia, and a low-cost Bristol base, which launched in September 2012.
The firm is the latest to launch in the Irish Republic’s capital following the Brexit referendum.
Last month, Covington & Burling announced it would be launching a life sciences and technology practice in Dublin next week, pending regulatory approval.
Pinsent Masons announced in June that it would open in Dublin with a three-partner team, marking its fourth office launch in 18 months.
The Lawyer reported last year that Pinsents was looking for a new office in Dublin after the Brexit vote, although it was unclear whether the firm was looking for a merger or a team hire.
Meanwhile, Kennedy’s expanded its Dublin office last year after a report was released that suggested some British businesses would look to leave the UK following the Brexit vote.
The first of the pack was Dechert, which launched its Dublin office in July 2010 with the hire of Declan O’Sullivan from William Fry.
