Brian Gerard O'Moore is an Irish lawyer who has been a judge of the High Court since December 2019 and is a judge of the Commercial Court. He previously practiced as a barrister where he was involved in many significant cases involving commercial law.

Early life

O'Moore attended secondary school at

St Mary's College, Dublin Saint Mary's College C.S.Sp. (Congregatio Sancti Spiritus) is a voluntary boys' primary and secondary school run by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit and located in Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1890, closed in 1916, an ...

, completing his studies in 1978. He studied Legal Science at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1982, and trained to become a barrister at the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...

. He became a scholar of Trinity College in 1980.

Legal career

He was called to the bar in 1984 and became a senior counsel fifteen years later in 1999. His practiced focused primarily on commercial law, appearing on issues involving corporate disputes, company law, employment law and intellectual property disputes. Jim Mansfield, Dunnes Stores,

Quinn Group Mannok, formerly the QUINN group, is a business group headquartered in Derrylin, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The group has ventured into cement and concrete products, container glass, general insurance, radiators, plastics, hotels, and r ...

, the owners of the Shelbourne Hotel,

Treasury Holdings Treasury Holdings was an Irish property development company headed by Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett. The company, which was insolvent with a huge amount of debt, was wound up in October 2012. History Treasury Holdings was formed in 1989 with ...

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

Allied Irish Banks Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is one of the so-called Big Four commercial banks in Ireland. AIB offers a full range of personal, business and corporate banking services. The bank also offers a range of general insurance products such as home, trav ...

, and Declan Ganley were among his clients. He represented Pat Kenny in a 2008 High Court case involving a dispute over land. He was a barrister for

Larry Goodman Laurence "Larry" Goodman (born 15 September 1937) is an Irish businessman, chiefly involved in the beef processing industry. He is the 6th generation of a livestock and meat exporting family and founded what is now ABP Food Group in 1954. He is ...

and his investment firm Breccia in disputes with the

Blackrock Clinic Blackrock Clinic ( ga, Clinic na Carraige Duibhe) is a private hospital in Blackrock, Dublin. It is associated with both the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and University College Dublin. History The hospital was founded by surgeons Jos ...

and the

Galway Clinic The Galway Clinic ( ga, Clinic na Gaillimhe) is a private hospital in Galway, Ireland. History The hospital was founded by surgeons Joseph Sheehan and Jimmy Sheehan, who had established the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin. It was built at a cost of ...

. Beyond the Irish courts, O'Moore has also appeared for the Irish government at the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

, including in '' Metock v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform''. The precipitation of the post-2008 Irish banking crisis led to many court disputes, with O'Moore appearing in many, including on matters of insolvency law and in cases on behalf of the National Asset Management Agency. He acted for Anglo Irish Bank in November 2009 when a group of New York investors accused the bank of fraud. In December 2009, he acted for the bank's former CEO David Drumm in an action the bank took seeking to recover unpaid loans. He also acted for the Sisk Group and

Seán Quinn John Ignatius Quinn, commonly known as Seán Quinn (born 5 December 1947), is an Irish businessman and conglomerateur. In 2008 he was the richest person in the Republic of Ireland, but in 2012 he was declared bankrupt. The '' Sunday Times Ric ...

and his family in defending actions taken by Anglo Irish Bank. During the Quinn proceedings, a son and a nephew of Seán Quinn were jailed for putting assets beyond the reach of the court. Beyond his commercial practice, he also represented clients in matters involving criminal law, immigration law, and defamation law. He was counsel for

Mary Harney Mary Harney (born 11 March 1953) is an Irish former politician and the current Chancellor of the University of Limerick. She was leader of the Progressive Democrats party between 1993 and 2006 and again from 2007 to 2008, resuming the role aft ...

and The Irish Times in separate defamation cases. He appeared for

James Gogarty James Gogarty (1890–1921), was an Irish political figure. He took part in the Easter Rising in 1916; and was the first known Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) casualty of the Irish War of Independence. Gogarty born on 23 March 1890 in the ...

at the

Flood Tribunal The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman, was a public inquiry in Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investigate allegations of cor ...

in 1999. He acted for the Attorney General of Ireland to defend an attempt by a group of prisoners in Mountjoy Prison seeking release to vote in the first referendum on the Nice Treaty. and Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement the other proceedings. He was appointed the lead counsel for a

Central Bank of Ireland The Central Bank of Ireland ( ga, Banc Ceannais na hÉireann) is Ireland's central bank, and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It is the country's financial services regulator for most categories of financial firms ...

inquiry into

Irish Nationwide Building Society Irish Nationwide Building Society was a financial institution in Ireland from 1873 to 2011. One of the country's oldest financial institutions, it was originally called the Irish Industrial Building Society; it changed its name in 1975 when it had ...

in 2017.

Judicial career

O'Moore was appointed to the High Court in December 2019. He is a judge of the Commercial Court division of the High Court. He has presided over cases involving professional negligence, employment law, company law, insolvency law, judicial review, and injunctions.''Evalve Inc & ors -v- Edwards Lifesciences Ireland Ltd & ors'' (2020) IEHC 266
. Courts.ie

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OMoore, Brian Living people High Court judges (Ireland) Irish barristers People educated at St Mary's College, Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Scholars of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of King's Inns Year of birth missing (living people)