Conference Chairperson & Opening Remarks

Roger Murray SC, Partner, Head of Medical Negligence, Callan Tansey Solicitors

Employer Liability Claims in Ireland – Where Exposure Arises and How It Escalates

Speaker: John Sheehy, Partner, DAC Beachcroft

• The main categories of employers’ liability exposure in practice
• How routine incidents turn into formal claims, disputes and litigation
• The early failures that increase liability, cost and settlement pressure
• Why internal inconsistency can damage defensibility later
• The key controls employers should have in place now

Quantum and Valuation – Reserving, Settlement Range and Litigation Risk

Speaker: Brendan O’Connell,  Partner, RDJ

• Valuing employers’ liability claims using a consistent and defendable approach
• General damages, special damages, future loss and care claims: key pressure points
• Dealing with pre-existing conditions, degenerative findings and competing causes
• Settlement strategy versus “wait and see” drift
• Avoiding over-reserving, underestimating exposure and late-stage surprises

Investigating Incidents Without Damaging the Defence

Speaker: Diarmaid Harnett, Senior Associate, Kennedys Law LLP

• What to do in the first 24 to 72 hours after an incident
• Evidence capture, scene management and preserving the factual record
• Root cause versus blame: what records should and should not say
• Managing contractor and third-party involvement without confusion on responsibility
• Preparing for later scrutiny in claims, settlement negotiations and litigation

Evidence That Wins or Loses Claims – Records, CCTV, Witnesses and Medical Proof

Speaker: Lorcan Maule, Senior Associate, Mason Hayes and Curran

• The documents that routinely make or break employer cases
• Incident reports, CCTV, witness evidence and chain-of-custody basics
• Medical evidence: consistency, credibility, functional impact and surveillance triggers
• Data protection boundaries when gathering and using evidence
• Turning difficult internal facts into a coherent defence position

Psychiatric Injury and Stress-Related Claims – Foreseeability, Evidence and Defence Risk

Speaker: Deirdre Munnelly, Partner, Mason Hayes and Curran

• When stress and psychiatric injury become employers’ liability claims
• What claimants must prove and where employers are most exposed
• Foreseeability, knowledge and evidential thresholds
• Medical evidence, causation disputes and competing explanations
• Records and handling issues that strengthen or weaken the defence

Workplace Injury Claims – Liability, Causation and Contributory Negligence

• Proving and challenging liability in accident-at-work cases
• The causation arguments that matter most in practice
• Contributory negligence: when it succeeds and when it does not
• Common employer liability fact patterns, including slips, trips, manual handling, equipment and work at height
• Defence themes that repeatedly reduce exposure

Recurring Employer Liability Claims – Where Defences Succeed and Where Employers Get Caught Out

• The claim patterns that arise most often against employers
• Failures in supervision, systems of work, maintenance and training
• Contractor and third-party incidents and where responsibility sits
• When documentation gaps undermine otherwise defendable cases
• The practical lessons employers can take from recurring claim scenarios

Parallel Proceedings and Employer Exposure – When Internal Complaints and Civil Claims Collide

• How internal complaints, investigations and other proceedings affect later civil claims
• The disclosure, inconsistency and privilege risks employers need to manage
• When poor handling increases claim value or settlement pressure
• Protecting the defence position across internal processes, insurers and legal advisers
• Practical coordination where multiple processes are running at once

Reducing the Cost of Employer Claims – Resolution Strategy, Litigation Control and Outcomes

• Early resolution routes and when to use them
• Litigation decision points that drive cost drift
•  Controlling legal spend, expert costs and timeline creep
• Knowing when to settle, when to defend and when to push back
• Lessons from recurring employer claim patterns and how to prevent repeats