Mr Justice Denis McDonald studied law in Trinity College Dublin from where he graduated in 1984. He obtained a Barrister-at-Law Degree from the Kings Inns in 1986 and commenced practice in that year. He was called to the Inner Bar in October 2000. He practiced primarily in the areas of chancery and commercial law. In October 2010 he was appointed by the Governor of the Central Bank as chairman of the Irish Takeover Panel serving as chairman until April 2018. He was elected a bencher of the King’s Inns in October 2017. He was appointed to the High Court in April 2018. He has been a judge of the Commercial Court since October 2018.
Mr Justice Michael Twomey was appointed to the High Court of Ireland in January 2016 and has spent the majority of his time sitting in the Commercial Division. He studied law in University College Cork, holds a Ph.D. in law from University College Dublin, was a Visiting Researcher in Harvard Law School and a lecturer in law in Trinity College Dublin. He was elected a bencher of King’s Inns in 2016 and is an accredited mediator with CEDR. Prior to his appointment to the High Court, he practised in commercial law, specialising in the law of partnership and he was a consultant to the Law Commission of England & Wales and the Scottish Law Commission in relation to their joint Report on Partnership Law. He is the author of “Twomey on Partnership” (Bloomsbury Professional, 2nd ed., 2020), the leading partnership law text in Ireland.
Mr Justice Michael Quinn was appointed a judge of the High Court in 2018. He is assigned to the Commercial Division and to hear examinership and insolvency matters under the Companies Act 2014. He is a Bencher of the King’s Inns in Dublin. Prior to his appointment he practised as a solicitor specialising in corporate restructuring and insolvency and was a CEDR accredited mediator. He is a Past President of INSOL Europe (the European Association of Insolvency Practitioners) and is Co Chair of the Judicial Wing of INSOL Europe. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the EU Project on Judicial CoOperation for Economic Recovery in Europe. He was a founder member and Chair of the Irish Society of Insolvency Practitioners.
Mr Justice Mark Sanfey was appointed a judge of the High Court in December 2019. He was assigned to the Commercial Court in May 2022, having previously been assigned to the Chancery Division, and was the judge in charge of the Personal Insolvency list from January 2020 until May 2022, and has since presided over the Bankruptcy list. He studied law at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1982, and was called to the Bar in 1987, having obtained a Barrister-at-Law degree from the King’s Inns. He became a Senior Counsel in 2004, and practised primarily in the areas of commercial, construction and insolvency law. He was a founding member of the Construction Bar Association of Ireland, and served as Chair of that organisation from 2013 to 2018. He is a co-author of “Bankruptcy Law and Practice” (Round Hall, 2nd ed., 2010).
There are a number of Registrars assigned primarily to the Commercial Court: Nina Brennan, Marianne White and Rebecca Moynihan. They are staff of the Courts Service assigned to the High Court.