At the rebranding and expansion plans of OC Law in Tallaght Village
OC Law are excited with new rebranding and expansion plans
A MAJOR rebranding took place this week at established Tallaght legal practice Colm O’Cochlain & Co, which became OC Law on June 12.
Established in 2004 by its principal solicitor Colm O’Cochlain, the move coincides with expansion plans nationwide by a firm, which has grown from three staff members in the early days to 25 today.
Sarah Jane Oak, Jenny McGrail, Michelle Quinn and Jacqueline Lally
Speaking to The Echo from their premises on Old Blessington Road, in the heart of Tallaght Village, O’Cochlain explains that changes will have no impact on their existing legal services or the “specialist solicitors advice” that they provide clients.
This work is principally in areas of public injuries, conveyancing and family law, probate and wills, landlord and tenant and employment law.
The next chapter for the company and OC Law, is about looking at “optimising long-term operations in a more efficient manner.”
Barra O’Cochlain, Ray Cooke and David McMahon
“One of the reasons for OC Law is we would like to roll this out for clients with a lot of practices closing down,” explains Colm.
“We find a lot of practices are led by people in who are aged 68/70 but there is no succession plan in place, or the younger members at the practice don’t want to take over.
“We’ll take over and run it with the existing workload without the hassle of the day-to-day operations. We have a good name but it shouldn’t just be associated with me.”
Sean Wallace, Peter O’Donoghue and Gary Brennan
O’Cochlain is currently in talks with three different practices but the plans have been in the works for a while.
OC Law have solicitors operating already in a number of different locations including three in Sligo, one in Mayo and another in Roscommon.
Alexia, Amy, Sarah, Niamh and Seanin
“They operate out of hubs and come up once a month. We can offer clients the opportunity to meet in person for a meeting or online depending on the situation,” said Colm.
Recently, OC Law successfully represented a defendant in a Supreme Court appeal that refined the “Primor” test for dismissing cases due to delay.
The case involved a development property project in Wexford and legal proceedings by an appellant that dragged on for well over a decade.
Amy Doyle, Kacey Byrne, Hannah McEneaney and Alexia Mahon
The Court held that inactivity is now judged by reference to Order 122, rule 11 RSC, marking two years’ delay as a critical milestone toward dismissal.
The highs of the Supreme Court ruling in the firm’s favour and an expanding business network are in contrast to the modest early days when Colm established a practice with just three staff, upstairs at First Active House in Tallaght Village.
Alexia Mahon and Niamh McKee
Back then it was himself, Jenny Monaghan McGrail, who started on the phones and is now a conveyancing legal executive with OC Law, and Julie Coyne, who has since moved on but was at the company’s 20-year anniversary bash last year.
Since then, the premises has been refurbished and expanded a number of times under the same roof, just bigger with more space over two floors these days.
Reflecting on how the practice has evolved over the last 21 years, through the highs and lows, Colm acknowledges the practice is “now very different” but a “more viable business with better processes in place.”
Colm O Cochláin cuts the tape with Lee Grace and Roberto Lopes
“The biggest source of our customers are existing clients and referrals,” he said.
“Measuring how the business comes in, about 99-100 per cent is returning clients, 99 per cent referrals, about 20 per cent from Google.”
Looking ahead, O’Cochlain is enthused about the rebranding and expansion plans, which provide a platform for the OC Law practice to flourish in the years ahead.
