About James Sherwin
Managing Partner of Sherwin O’ Riordan.
James advises companies on incorporation, shareholder structures, financing, leasing, contracting, mergers, acquisitions, and buyouts. He has participated in multi-million euro mergers and acquisitions, handling negotiations, structuring, and closings.
Leveraging his experience, James guides companies and their leaders on incorporation, dissolution, and shareholder and employment agreements. He’s also written extensively on shareholder agreement issues and employee shareholder agreement pitfalls.
With significant expertise, he tackles minority shareholder rights, non-compete agreements, restrictive covenants, and shareholder disputes.
Advising international corporate investors and multinational corporations, James handles a wide variety of transactions involving business collaborations and exclusive supply and distribution arrangements in this jurisdiction. He has significant experience in forming joint ventures and regularly advises technology and start-up companies on IP protection and all rounds and stages of investment. He has also developed expertise in confidentiality agreements, share structures, ownership and transfer of proprietary information and developments and related legal fields.
He has a BA from Trinity College Dublin (1991) and qualified as a solicitor in Ireland in 1996.
Recent Transactions
Defending Catastrophic Cases
Advised a professional services firm on exiting a commercial lease and negotiating dilapidations and schedules of work. Consequently, the client exited the lease with a reduced settlement and successfully relocated within three months.
Advised the director and shareholder of a manufacturing company in a dispute with a co-founder. As a result, the shareholder was removed and replaced as a director within four months, enabling the client to refocus on strategic growth.
Advised VR Retail, a high-tech start-up, on intellectual property protection, corporate structure, employment agreements, shareholders’ agreements, share classes, and supplier agreements. This work ensured the appropriate legal structures were in place to protect the business and support its continued growth.
Advised a leading medical device supplier on the buyout of a minority and difficult shareholder, enabling the client to proceed with its expansion plans without further disruption.
Advised one of Ireland’s leading nursing home operators on the buyout of investors at the end of a tax scheme. This included new fundraising to facilitate the buyout of borrowers and tax investors pursuant to a put and call option agreement.