Data protection a “key imperative” for businesses ahead of Brexit “cliff edge” say Lewis Silkin lawyers at Dublin office opening

DUBLIN – Experts at the launch event for Lewis Silkin’s Dublin office have shone a spotlight on the opportunities for Ireland post-Brexit.

Law firm Lewis Silkin’s official launch event for its new Dublin office was held on 20 September 2018 in Dublin’s Marker Hotel. The event included a panel discussion on Ireland as a centre for data-focused businesses post-Brexit and as a result of GDPR and the key employment issues currently facing international employers.

Joining the panel alongside Lewis Silkin lawyers were Dale Sunderland, Deputy Commissioner at the Irish Data Protection Commission and Joanne Redmond, Director and Associate Counsel, International Employment at Facebook.

Linda Hynes, employment lawyer and workplace data protection specialist at Lewis Silkin Ireland, commented:

“Now the hard deadline for GDPR has passed clients are focusing on how to ensure their compliance frameworks work in practice and looking at ways to stress test their breach and subject access procedures. The next twelve months will see greater guidance for companies on the practicalities of complying with GDPR and how the regulators in different jurisdictions, including Ireland, will interpret and enforce the GDPR principles. The imperative for companies now has to be on continuous improvement.

Lewis Silkin’s Dublin office opened in April 2018 with the hire of local employment law and workplace data protection specialists Síobhra Rush (Partner), and Linda Hynes (Managing Associate). The Dublin team is supported by London-based colleagues Sean Dempsey, Catherine Hayes and David Hopper for employment, and Giles Crown and Dominic Farnsworth for commercial/data protection and brand protection.

Síobhra Rush, employment law partner at Lewis Silkin LLP, commented:

“The Dublin office launch was a fantastic success and we would like to thank all those who attended, particularly Dale and Joanne, whose contributions to the panel discussion provided a terrific insight into the employment and data protection challenges facing international employers in Ireland.

“With the Brexit cliff edge on the horizon, an adequacy decision or a data sharing deal between the EU and UK is still far from guaranteed and companies with operations in the UK, Ireland and other Member States need to ensure that they start to Brexit-proof their data sharing.

“Lewis Silkin’s move into Dublin clearly aligns with these requirements and we look forward to continued growth and development in line with evolving client needs in our specialist market leading employment, data protection and brand protection practices.”