'Too often, lawyers are brought in at the end of a process': New Northern Ireland law firm targets gap between legal advice and business decisions

Northern Ireland is not short of legal expertise. But for many businesses, there remains a gap between how legal advice is delivered and how commercial decisions are actually made.

That gap is what new corporate law firm Daly McCormick is aiming to close.

Launching with a base in Mid Ulster and a presence in Belfast, the firm is built around a straightforward idea: that legal advice should begin with the commercial and tax reality of a business - not the documentation that follows.

It is a shift in emphasis, but one the firm’s founders believe is long overdue.

“Too often, lawyers are brought in at the end of a process,” said co-founder Claire Daly. “By that stage, key decisions have already been made - sometimes without full visibility on the legal or structural implications. Our approach is to be involved earlier, when those decisions are still being shaped.”

In many transactions, that timing can be critical. Deals are agreed in principle, ownership structures loosely mapped out, and only then is legal input sought to formalise what already exists. The result, Daly suggests, is that opportunities can be missed and risks inadvertently built into the foundations of a deal.

Daly McCormick’s model seeks to reverse that sequence.

Both Claire and co-founder Caoimhe McCormick bring experience from working in-house within a leading accountancy environment - a background that continues to influence how they approach client work.

“That experience changes your perspective,” Caoimhe explained. “You are much closer to how businesses and advisers actually operate day to day. You see how tax, accounting and commercial considerations interact in real time, and legal advice needs to fit within that - not sit separately from it.”

The firm’s positioning reflects that thinking. Rather than operating as a general practice, Daly McCormick is focused exclusively on corporate and commercial advisory work: transactions, restructures, governance, commercial agreements, employee incentives and succession planning.

For many owner-managed and growth-stage businesses, those areas are not isolated events, but part of a broader lifecycle. Decisions taken at one stage - whether around structuring, investment or succession - often carry long-term implications.

“Our role is to provide continuity across that lifecycle,” Claire continued. “Not just stepping in for a single transaction, but understanding where the business is going and helping to structure things in a way that supports that.”

Collaboration is another central theme. The firm is explicit in its intention to work alongside accountants, tax advisers and other solicitors, particularly those who do not specialise in corporate work.

“There is a strong advisory ecosystem here,” added Caoimhe. “The best outcomes for clients come when that ecosystem works together. We see ourselves as part of that – supporting and strengthening the overall advice, rather than competing with it.”

That approach may also resonate with professional advisers managing increasingly complex client needs, particularly as regulatory, tax and governance requirements continue to evolve.

At the same time, Daly McCormick is placing emphasis on how its services are delivered. In a sector sometimes associated with formality and delay, the firm is positioning itself around accessibility and responsiveness.

“Clients want clarity and they want it quickly,” Claire notes. “They don’t want unnecessary complexity or layers of process. They want to understand their options and move forward with confidence.”

The decision to operate from Mid Ulster, alongside a presence in Belfast, also reflects a deliberate strategy. While Belfast remains the centre of much professional services activity, significant business growth continues across the wider region.

“There is a huge amount of entrepreneurial activity outside Belfast,” Caoimhe concluded. “We wanted to be properly embedded in that, while still being accessible to clients and advisers across Northern Ireland.”

As businesses become more sophisticated, expectations of legal advisers are shifting.

Technical expertise is assumed; what increasingly differentiates firms is how that expertise is applied - and how well it aligns with commercial reality.

Daly McCormick’s arrival suggests a model designed with that in mind: commercially grounded, specialist in focus, and structured around how business is actually done.