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Photography: Paul Sherwood
Below: David Phelan
Below: Bobby Blakeney and Ciarán O’Rourke
Hayes Celebrates 175 Years in Business Dublin firm Hayes Solicitors passed a significant milestone in its long history this year. William Hayes set up his firm at Ormond Quay in 1840, only 10 years after the Law Society of Ireland was established, five years before the Great Famine and some 19 years before the first edition of The Irish Times
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illiam Samuel Hayes, a future president of the Law Society (1906-1907) and Robert Hayes were apprenticed to their father’s firm in 1886 and became partners in Hayes & Sons in 1892, by which time the firm had moved to offices at Nassau Street. They were later joined in the partnership by another brother, Samuel. William Hayes died in 1899 but his sons built the practice and stayed in the firm for their entire careers. The 1950s was a significant decade for the firm as it settled into its new surroundings at 15 St Stephen’s Green, today home of the Little Museum of Dublin. The three Hayes brothers died during the 1950s leaving a wellestablished firm that included Thelma King who became a partner in 1956 – a rare female partner in those days in a profession that by 1960 had a mere 60 female practising solicitors in Ireland. (In 2015 Hayes has a 50:50 gender balance in its partnership.) Thelma King went on to become president of the DSBA in 1973-74, following in the footsteps of Hayes DSBA past presidents Ralph J Walker (1952-1953) and Leslie E Kearon (1958-1959). Hayes continues to play an active role on DSBA committees today. The firm moved to its current offices at Lavery House on Earlsfort Terrace in 1997. In 2003 Hayes & Sons became Hayes Solicitors and by 2008, incorporated both Fawsitt Solicitors and Eugene Davy Solicitors following successful mergers.
Hayes today has more than 40 solicitors including 16 partners and two consultants. At a reception to mark the firm’s 175th anniversary in November, managing partner David Phelan remarked that strong relationships with clients and staff have been a key feature of the long Hayes story so far and will continue to be its hallmark into the future. P
Above: Fiona White, Martha Wilson, Lisa Timmons
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09/12/2015 15:09