A growing firm: 1954 - 1988
Within five years of joining the firm, Peter Prentice had become Senior Partner. Over the next three decades, he oversaw a significant expansion of the firm.
His vision included moving the firm to 20 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin in 1954, with the new offices situated close to government buildings, including the Department of An Taoiseach which was just across the road. An advert in the Irish Press newspaper noted that the firm also had a new telephone number, with four lines.
That advert also confirmed that Anderson & Bland and LJ Jameson & Co had been incorporated into the firm.
Leopold John Jameson (Leo) had been a solicitor’s apprentice and general clerk with Bob Matheson before he qualified as a solicitor himself in 1925. He subsequently rented rooms above Matheson’s office in Unity Building, from where he built up a successful debt collection practice over the next nearly 30 years. His company, LJ Jameson, was amalgamated into the firm in 1954.
During the 1960s, Nick Robinson, conservationist, cartoonist, solicitor and husband of former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, served his apprenticeship with the firm.
Hilary Prentice was appointed as the firm's first female partner in 1980. Today, 45% of Matheson's partnership is female, one of the most gender-diverse law firms at partner level in Europe.
Matheson's growing practice gradually expanded into the adjoining buildings at 18 and 19 Upper Merrion Street and it subsequently took further offices in the nearby 11 - 13 Ely Place. However, by 1988, and now with over 100 staff across six Georgian buildings, something substantially bigger and more modern was needed.
19 and 20 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin
Advert in the Irish Press newspaper in 1954 announcing the firm's new office and the incorporation of Anderson & Bland and LJ Jameson & Co.
Obituary for John Ross in the Sunday Independent Newspaper, 1 January 2012. Read the full article here
International growth
Over this period, the firm would transform from a domestic practice into one that undertook large scale corporate work for commercial clients across the globe.
From the late 1950s, a wave of manufacturing companies entered Ireland. By dismantling tariff barriers, leveraging low corporate tax rates and promoting Ireland as a gateway to Europe, the Irish government sought to create an attractive landscape for multinational corporations.
By the mid 1960s a growing proportion of Matheson's work came from US-based clients. The firm worked closely with the IDA, whose representatives were also active in the United States promoting Ireland as an attractive place for international corporations to invest.
Partners such as John Ross (1919- 2012), who joined the firm in 1951, and who served as a senator from 1961 to 1965 representing Trinity College Dublin, were to the fore with respect to the firm's expansion. Exxon Mobil, Texaco, Citibank, Pfizer, NCR (National Cash Register), WR Grace, Loctite, Schering Plough and Cross Pens were among a number of international brands that became clients in this time.
Closer ties to Europe
Matheson Ormsby and Prentice’s business expanded further after Ireland joined the EEC in 1973.
Membership of the EEC ultimately led to extensive legal reforms in Ireland across the areas of trade, agriculture and employment. It aligned new and existing Irish laws with European standards and facilitated further economic growth and social change. The opportunities brought by this development would become even more important as the Irish economy entered recession in the late 1970s and early 1980s and domestic growth and development slowed.
This period saw the emergence of the firm's now-leading restructuring and employment practices, with one early noteworthy case being the liquidation of the Ferenka steel cord factory in Limerick.
January 1 1973, former Taoiseach Jack Lynch signed Ireland into the European Economic Community (EEC) alongside the UK and Denmark.
Peter Prentice, Senior Partner and President of the Law Society.
Newsworthy cases
In 1961, Peter Prentice advised on the takeover of Cork- based drapers firm T Lyons and Company, and would subsequently become that firm’s chairman and director.
A few years later, in 1965, the firm acted again for the company when it was acquired by Brown Thomas & Co. Peter Prentice remained a director of Brown Thomas until his death, and advised on the store’s transition after a majority stake was sold to Anglo-Canadian businessman Galen Weston.
In the 1980s, partner David Prentice advised the liquidators following the collapse in 1982 of Italy’s largest private bank, Banco Ambrosiano. It was the largest commercial case to reach the Irish Supreme Court at the time.
A developing partnership
Over this period, the firm experienced significant growth in the partnership and the development of the practice areas for which it would become renowned. Future Managing Partner Ernest Margetson joined the firm in 1959.
On 1 January 1968, Eddie Montgomery's firm Montgomery & Figgis was formally amalgamated into Matheson Ormsby and Prentice. Just a year later, S & R C Walker was brought into the firm.
Innovation: From telex to fax
The Merrion Street years witnessed significant innovations with the introduction of new forms of communication and technology. 1954 saw the first use of dictating machines in the office. The 1950s and 1960s were also the golden age of the Telex machine which, at that time, was an essential tool for contacting clients.
In 1980, the firm purchased its first computer, a Wang WPS. It was located in the corridor next to future Managing Partner William Prentice's office in Ely Place.
This period also saw the introduction of an automated debt collection system, which was ahead of its time.
First Wang Computer is bought for the office.
Timeline: 1954 - 1988
1954
The firm amalgamates with LJ Jameson & Co.
1954
Move offices to 20 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin.
1968
Amalgamates with Montgomery & Figgis.
1969
Amalgamates with S & R C Walker & Son, the principal was Charles Robinson.
1969
40 staff working in Matheson.
1973
Peter Prentice is Matheson's first partner to serve as President of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, and moves the Society to its present home on Blackhall Place.
1973
Ireland joins the European Economic Community (EEC).
1980
Hilary Prentice becomes Matheson's first female partner.
1988
Matheson reaches 100 employee milestone.
1988
Matheson moves to new Burlington Road premises.
