Marie McGinley

Partner

International Head of Technology & Head of Intellectual Property, Technology and Data Protection in Ireland

Practice areas

• Commercial agreements
• Commercial and IT
• Data centers
• Intellectual property
• Licensing
• Media
• Outsourcing and offshoring
• Privacy, data protection and cybersecurity
• Technology
• Technology, Media and Telecoms
• Telecoms

Practice notes

‘Marie McGinley shows deep experience in this area, and provides balanced and well-thought out counsel to our DPO, managers and directors, and CEO. Her availability and rapid response and turnaround of documents and queries is a really unique attribute in our experience.’-Legal 500

‘Marie McGinley has a can-do attitude and is one of the best in her field. Marie’s ability to identify the points in an argument that are game changers and to direct attention to those strengths makes her a standout. No cause is ever lost, as Marie is particularly strong at driving legal arguments with great persuasion.' - Legal 500

‘Marie McGinley is just in a field of her own in terms of client contact and the ability to understand the internal issues that we face as in-house lawyers. She puts herself in our shoes, avoids providing unhelpful or superfluous advice and is laser focused on just achieving a good outcome for her clients. I cannot recommend her highly enough.’ - Legal 500

‘Marie McGinley is always on top of her brief and her expertise and experience means we have confidence nothing is overlooked.' - Legal 500

‘Marie McGinley is an exceptional IP lawyer, who explains complicated matters in a concise and digestible way. Highly recommended.’ - Legal 500

Marie McGinley "is very generous with her time and has a wealth of knowledge from both a legal and a business perspective" - Chambers Europe

"She gives practical, solution-focused advice" - Chambers Europe

"She gets to the centre of an issue very quickly" - Chambers Europe

"She is able to deal with people of all levels in our organisation and explain things clearly" - Chambers Europe

One client describes her as an "excellent communicator" who is "very knowledgeable in her field." - Chambers Europe

One client says that "she is very prompt and has good attention to detail" while another states: "She translates the complex legal issues into terms that I can deal with." - Chambers Europe

Marie "has a pragmatic style and approach and has been very supportive. She has delivered practical solutions to complex legal issues" - Chambers Europe

She distinguishes herself by being "very responsive and practical" and impresses clients, who describe her as "very knowledgeable" and a "subject matter expert" - Chambers Europe

"top-notch, goes above and beyond without having to be asked and gives really practical advice" - Chambers Europe

"she is obviously a subject matter expert and has a good way of explaining things" - Chambers Europe

"She is truly an expert with an impressive and broad knowledge of IP law" - Chambers Europe

‘Marie McGinley is my main contact and her level of professionalism, knowledge, expertise and commitment is exceptional. Marie has presented to our Board of Directors, medical consultants and senior management on the subject of Data Privacy and data protection and has done so with the ability to apply to their area of practice. Her advice is not only expert but also applicable.’ - Legal 500

Marie McGinley is "personable" and she "has a deep knowledge of the GDPR" - Legal 500

Marie is a Partner and Head of our Intellectual Property, Technology and Data protection Departments. Marie practises in both contentious and commercial intellectual property/technology matters for a broad range of domestic and international clients. She is also a registered Irish Trade Mark Agent. Marie advises on commercial, regulatory and transactional matters.

Marie has particular experience in complex intellectual property/technology development, procurement and licensing deals, including managed services, systems integration, technology and large scale outsourcing projects for both domestic and international clients. This experience includes advising on complex technology and commercial outsourcing arrangements in all sectors, ranging from e-commerce, franchising, international trade, technology distribution, data centre and financial services.

Marie also has particular experience in advising on data protection law in the context of a wide range of data protection matters which are relevant to both domestic and international clients, including advising clients on the data protection and privacy aspects of direct marketing initiatives and activities, international data transfers in the context of service agreements and outsourcing, multijurisdictional audits and general/strategic data protection compliance.

Marie advises both public and private clients on freedom of information, access to information on the environment and confidentiality matters, including compliance requirements, advice and support to clients in responding to information requests and any subsequent appeal process. This experience affords Marie with a good and in-depth understanding of the expectations on both sides when advising on these matters.

Marie is also credited for her cybersecurity work and supporting clients to prepare, prevent and respond in the context of breaches/cyber incidents. Her experience includes advising on multi-jurisdictional breach incidents, high profile breach investigations, GDPR supervisory assessments/audits, assisting clients to manage their responses, coordinate with multiple agencies and stakeholders, and manage potential claims and damage to reputation.

Marie is also involved in strategic legal due diligence and transitional services arrangements in relation to corporate acquisitions, disposals and restructurings.

Marie is a regular speaker and contributor on matters relating to technology, outsourcing/commercial contracts, data protection and cyber security.

Marie lectures and tutors in the area of Intellectual Property, Information Technology and Data Protection at the Law Society of Ireland.

Marie won 'Technology, Media, & Telecommunication Lawyer of the Year’ at the Women in Business Law Europe Awards 2021.