Letter from the firm's Chair, Paddy Spicer
As we come to the close of an extraordinary year in Matheson’s history, I am delighted to introduce this Winter 2025 edition of our alumni newsletter. The celebration of our 200th year has been far more than a milestone; it has given us the opportunity pause and reflect. In Dublin, London, Cork and of course at our second annual alumni event, we marked the anniversary with initiatives that spoke not only to our past, but also to the firm we have become. From historical exhibitions to international events and digital campaigns, we have enjoyed sharing our firm’s story with clients, colleagues and you, our alumni network. While this has been a particularly eventful year, you will no doubt recall that life at Matheson is always eventful. In this edition, along with a recap of our 200-year celebrations, we highlight some of our clients’ successes from 2025, and discuss other firm news such as our continued advancement of our academic partnerships through scholarships, summits and hackathons. Meanwhile our commitment to responsible business continues to grow through a myriad of Impactful Business Programme initiatives. Among these highlights, it was heartening to see that the tangible positive impact we strive toward is affirmed through recent recognitions such as The Volunteering and Pro Bono Services Award and Most Innovative New Idea at the MBC Annual Awards. We were also honoured to receive the European Corporate Team of the Year award at The Lawyer European Awards 2025, and the National Law Firm of the Year at the International Employment Lawyer Awards 2025, both wonderful recognitions of talented teams.
And finally, this year also sees a changing of the guard as three stalwarts of the firm retire as equity partners, to become consultants to the firm. Each of them has made a lasting contribution to the firm: in the case of Anne-Marie Bohan (my classmate from our days together in Trinity!), for the last 29 years; and in Nicola Dunleavy’s case, for the last 18 years. As highlighted in the Summer newsletter, this year also sees the end of Michael Jackson’s 10-year tenure as Managing Partner (and his 34th year in the firm), so I am delighted that we feature him as this edition's alumni spotlight.
As I said at the firm’s Christmas party last week, I cannot sum up Michael’s contribution to the firm in just a couple of sentences, but suffice to say we have been extremely fortunate to have Michael as our Managing Partner for the last 10 years - he is a strategic thinker and a very clear communicator; he has an enviable ability to bring people along with him and his style of leadership has helped the firm grow into the market-leading position that it currently occupies. So, on behalf of everyone at Matheson, we congratulate Anne-Marie, Nicola, and Michael on, and thank them for, all they have achieved, and we wish them all the very best as they move to their roles as consultants to the firm. Wishing you a very happy and peaceful Christmas, and all the very best for 2026.
Regards
Paddy
