• Overview
• Experience
• Style/Feedback
• Professional skills
• Full profile

To contact or appoint Patrick Hanratty, call CEDR Ireland on 01 871 7575 (NI +353 1871 7575)
email info@cedrireland.com

Overview

Patrick is a Barrister practicing in Dublin.  He graduated from UCD in 1972 with a degree in Economics and Politics, following which he studied law at Trinity College Dublin and Kings Inns.  He was called to the Bar in 1975 and became a Senior Counsel in 1994.  He was called to the Bar in England (Middle Temple) in 1988.  He has previously served as Vice Chairman of the Bar Council and Chairman of the Bar Council's arbitration committee.  He specialises in the areas of commercial litigation and medical negligence litigation.  He has substantial experience in litigation and arbitration and, more recently, mediation.  He became a CEDR Accredited mediator in 2004 since when he has participated in mediaitons both as a legal representative of parties to mediations and as a mediator.

Experience

Patrick has acted in a wide range of commercial litigation disputes for a number of large national and multi-national corporations in the financial services, construction, aviation, pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors.  He has also represented a substantial number of SME's.  

Examples of cases in which he has acted are:

• A case in which he acted for a Swiss Hedge Fund in the defence of a tracing claim seeking to trace and establish owenership of a substantial multi-million Euro deposit in an Irish bank account, paid by way of redemption of an investment in the fund, in circumstances where the monies in question were paid through a complex series of international hedge fund transactions, one of which may have involved fraudulent activity
• Prosecuting a claim by a provider of radiological equipment and services against a national health insurance provider relating to alleged anti competetive practices in conneciton with the provision of insurance cover for services provided by certain service providers
• Representing an airline in a legacy dispute with a large number of employees arising from a restructuring of its business
• Acting for a courier company in a series of cases involving the determination of respective rights of the company and its franchisees under the terms of the franchise agreements
• A case involving a financial institution in a dispute with a shopping centre owner and a national chain of supermarkets involving issues of alleged breaches of covenant in the shopping centre leases
• Representing the State in litigation in which a consortium of international tobacco companies sought to prevent the enactment of legislation to eliminate the advertising of tobacco and tobacco products from retail outlets
• Representing a telecommunications company in a legacy dispute with a number of employees arising from the closure of its business in another EU state
• Defending a financial institution in proceedings where it is alleged that the dismissal of an employee arose by reason of its breach of its own "whistleblower" policy
• Representing a multi-national pharmaceutical company in the defence of a claim arising from the illegal sale by a third party of the company's manufacturing waste in that state
• The prosecution of a claim on behalf of a Cayman Islands hedge fund arising from substantial multi-million dollar losses incurred by the fund following the collapse of Lehman Brothers as a result of the alleged negligence of the Administrator of the find in the discharge of its contractual duties
• Various professional negligence claims against architects, auctioneers, engineers and solicitors

In addition he also represents hospitals, consultants, junior doctors, nurses and general practitioners in all areas of medical law. He acts for the HSE and their insurers, individual hospitals and their insurers and all of the major medical defence organisations.  He has advised and represented these entities in all forms of medical litigation and issues including:

• Medical negligence claims
• Medical employment claims
• Hospital public liability issues
• Organ retention issues
• Medical ethics issues
• Medical Council Inquiries
• Clinical trials

Style/Feedback

Patrick is a strong believer in ADR, particularly mediation.  He believes that, with commitment and motivation on the part of the parties to the dispute, most disputes are capable of resolution in a properly conducted mediation.  His approach to mediation is professional, pragmatic and intuitive.

Professional skills

Patrick currently practices as a Senior Counsel.  For a number of years he was extern examiner in Arbitration Law to the Honourable Society of Kings Inns.  In 2002 he was appointed Consultant Editor of "The Bar Review", a professional publication for Barristers in Ireland.  He was Counsel to the Planning Tribunal between 1998 and 2001.  He became a CEDR Accredited mediator in 2004 and is a member of the Irish Commercial Mediation Association.  

In 2006 he was appointed as a member of the Appeals Board of the Ethics panel of Engineers Ireland, the professional body for engineers in Ireland.  The purpose of this Board is to adjudicate on appeals by engineers arising from professional misconduct findings by the Ethics Panel of Engineers Ireland.  

In 2010 he was appointed by the President of the High Court to be a member of a working group to make proposals for legislation on Periodic Payments Orders in catostrophic personal injuries cases, and Pre-Trial Protocols for and Case Managment of Medical Negligence cases.

Updated: May 2013