Lorraine is a Partner in the ByrneWallace LLP Employment Team and joined the firm in 2000 after having worked in the insurance industry for a number of years. 

Lorraine has over 20 years’ experience in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law. She has particular expertise in advising clients on all aspects of business transfers/ transfer of undertakings and has advised numerous national and international clients through outsourcing, restructuring, redundancy and collective redundancy processes. She also has represented numerous defence and plaintiff clients in restraint of trade litigation. In additional she has established expertise in the areas of data protection legislation.  

Lorraine regularly speaks on employment law issues at seminars and has provided in-house training on employment topics to businesses in diverse sectors of industry. Lorraine is a co-author of the Law Society’s e-book on Employment Law and she has lectured and tutored on the Employment Law Module of the Law Society Professional Practice Course.

Key Experience

• Drafting and reviewing employment and consultancy contracts, HR policies and procedures and executive severance agreements.


• Advising on issues relating to recruitment and termination of employment.


• Consulting on all aspects of change management, including the law on transfer of undertakings and redundancy and providing advices on the employment aspects of outsourcing and restructuring.


• Assisting clients with the management of investigations, grievance and disciplinary procedures including advising clients on all aspects of dealing with hearings and appeals involved in the processes.


• Advising on all aspects of employment disputes including internal procedures and providing representation in statutory and civil claims.


• Drafting and advising on the enforceability of restrictive covenants. Lorraine has acted on behalf of several Defence and Plaintiff clients in High Court non-compete and restraint of trade proceedings.


• Providing advice on all aspects of data protection legislation including reviewing and drafting of data protection policies, formulating and responding to data access requests and advising on interpretation of statutory provisions.


• Representing clients at hearings in the Workplace Relations Commission, Labour Court and in the civil courts. 

Education

• Business and Legal Studies degree (BBLS), University College Dublin, 1995
• Admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 2004
 

Memberships

• Law Society of Ireland
• Dublin Solicitors Bar Association

Recommendations

"Lorraine Smyth is a stellar employment lawyer. She has a huge wealth of legal knowledge and experience and is a wonderfully personable but steely negotiator who has a phenomenal ability to zone in on the key issues and always keeps the end game in sight. Ever the pragmatist, Lorraine never sugarcoats reality and tells a client exactly where they stand and what they need to know. Her technical ability to argue a case is second to none and she is a brilliant legal drafter who is very much appreciated, both by lawyers and non-legal colleagues." - Legal 500, 2024

"Lorraine Smyth handles contentious employment matters, with particular experience of protected disclosure and non-solicitation cases." - Chambers Europe 2019

Clients say: "She is practical, very knowledgeable and very responsive." - Chambers Europe 2019

"Employment law can get very technical but the options Lorraine Smyth provides are always very practical, workable solutions that solve problems." - Chambers Europe, 2018

Clients say that Lorraine Smyth is "very commercially focused, efficient, practical and pragmatic." Of late, her cases have involved dismissals relating to allegations of fraud. She has a particular focus on redundancy processes and TUPE issues, including restructuring and outsourcing matters. - Chambers Europe, 2017

Lorraine Smyth impresses Irish and international clients with her advice on contentious and non-contentious employment issues, including TUPE and collective redundancy. Sources say: "Her commercial acumen is obvious, because she gives a business answer with practical, workable solutions that are backed up by the law."  - Chambers Europe, 2016

Lorraine Smyth advises on outsourcing, restraint of trade and data protection matters within employment law. Clients describe her as "exceptionally effective and efficient, always thinking of all the angles."  - Chambers and Partners Global, 2015